Time To Put Your Galleons Where Your Mouth Is!
by dork-with-glasses
Summary: For the pupils of Hogwarts, it's time to put their galleons where their mouths are as they accept and reject bets from their friends. "Never. Going. To. Happen." "You gonna put your galleons where your mouth is?" Across all characters and all time frames.
1. Sirius B and Remus L

**The idea just popped into my head today and I thought, why not? It's just different bets that take place over the years. Including Marauder Era, Harry's Era and the Next Generation, I'll be going back and forth between the three. Some will be between major characters and some between minor characters and some will be serious (or Sirius) and some will be stupid. The chapters will be pretty short as bets don't really take up a lot of conversation or description. I'll say at the start of each chapter who the bet is between and what year it is (well most likely what year they're in as I can't be bothered working out which year everyone is in). **

**The first section will be where the bet is made and after the line is the section where the bet is resolved.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

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Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, 3rd year_

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"He'll win eventually." A thirteen year old boy with black hair said as he propped his feet up on the table in the Gryffindor Common room.

"Do you honestly think that?" A mousey haired boy asked as he surveyed his friend over the top of his potions essay.

"Yeah, come on Padfoot, he's been trying all year, I doubt she'll ever say yes." A blond haired boy agreed through a mouthful of chocolate frog.

"It's only third year! Prongs has got heaps of time for her to say yes." Sirius Black said confidently.

"Are you saying that as his best mate or because you seriously do think that?" Remus Lupin asked his friend sceptically.

"Of course I _siriusly_ think that, it's my name." Sirius smirked as Remus rolled his eyes and Peter Pettigrew laughed through another bite of his frog. "But yes, the charming Miss Evans will definitely agree to at least one date with Prongsie."

"NO POTTER! I WILL NOT GO OUT WITH YOU! NOT EVER! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE YOU EGOTISTICAL JERK!" A shout from the corridor outside the common room could be heard and a thirteen year old redhead stormed through the common room, seething, and stomped up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

"Never. Going. To. Happen. No matter how much we wish it did." Remus remarked.

"You gonna put your galleons where your mouth is, eh Moony?" Sirius challenged him as his feet fell from the table with a thud.

"You're so on, Padfoot." Remus smirked.

"15 galleons says Prongs will get Evans to say yes." Sirius proposed.

"15 galleons says in his dreams." Remus smirked.

"So it's a bet." Sirius said as the two shook hands.

"Funny," Peter noted, "it's usually Remus who tells us not to bet."

* * *

_7th year_

"She's cracking, I know she is." A now 17 year old Sirius Black stated as he lounged in the library next to two of his friends, both of who were busy writing essays.

"Lily?" Remus asked, not taking his eyes off his prized essay.

"Of course Evans, who else?"

"I don't know, some girl you asked out?" Remus suggested feebly.

"Yeah, right." Sirius rolled his eyes. "She's going to give in any day now, just you wait."

"Like I said back in 3rd year, it's not going to happen." Remus said but his voice was filled with doubt.

"You know it is." Sirius smirked.

"I hate to say it, Moony, but he's right." Peter shrugged.

"Whatever you say." Remus said and turned his full attention back to the work in front of him as Sirius leaned back on his chair.

"MOONY! PADFOOT! WORMTAIL!"A loud shout could be heard all throughout the library, many of the people around the three studying (well two studying, one doing nothing) sent glares in their direction as a boy (or is being seventeen considered to be a man?) with messy black hair and hazel eyes framed with glasses ran over to their table, a manic grin on his face.

"Shesaidyesshesaidyesshesaidyes!" he shouted, his words running together at the speed at which he delivered the news.

Although Sirius understood perfectly well what the manic grin, crazed look in the eyes and the volume, pitch and pace of the words his best friend uttered meant, he felt Remus might need to hear them again.

"What was that Prongsie? Didn't quite catch that?" he grinned.

"SHE SAID YES! LILY EVANS! SHE SAID YES TO A DATE WITH ME! SHE SAID YES!" James shouted, louder than before but at an easier pace to understand.

"Well done, mate." Sirius clapped James on the back. "I told you she would."

"Great work, James." Peter squeaked with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, nice work." Remus grinned, he truly was happy that his best friend _finally_ got a date with the girl of his dreams (although it had been over 4 long years of determination on James's part).

"It was nice work, wasn't it?" Sirius's grin changed to a smirk as he looked at Remus. "I'm now 15 galleons richer."

"And I'm now 15 galleons poorer." Remus sighed.

"You took a bet on my love life?" James asked, his voice would have sounded hurt if he wasn't so bloody happy that Lily Evans had agreed to go out with him.

"Oh yes. One cold, dark night in 3rd year in the middle of another lovely rejection from Miss Evans, Remus here said she'd never say yes, but look where we are now." Sirius smirked. "You've got a date and I've got 15 galleons."**

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Author's note: I'm not too sure about the ending but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. **

**I'm not sure how often I'll update this, probably not as often as I should but it'll be when inspiration strikes.**

**Thank you very much for reading and if you'd be ever so kind, I'd appreciate a review too!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	2. Ernie M and Hannah A

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (and I do not own the text in bold which is taken directly from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, chapter 15 Aragog). **_

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Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott, 2nd Year (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)_

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"I'm telling you, Hannah," Ernie Macmillan was telling his blonde pigtailed friend beside him as the two walked to Herbology together. "Potter's the heir of Slytherin, he has to be."

"You can't be serious, Ernie." Hannah said, "He's always been really nice."

"Well that's his cover, isn't it? He wants everyone to think he's nice and then when he's got us all convinced he's an angel, BAM he tries to kill half the students." Ernie finished dramatically.

"I still don't understand why it would be him; he's in Gryffindor, isn't he?" Hannah defended Harry.

"That doesn't mean he can't be Slytherin's heir. And anyway, he's a parselmouth, Hannah! Have you ever heard of a decent one?" Ernie persisted.

"There's a first for everything." Hannah shrugged.

"And I'm saying this isn't the first of anything." Ernie continued. "He completely gave himself away at the duelling club, and then when Justin was attacked."

"Don't." Hannah said, tears welling up in her clear blue eyes at the thought of their friend who was currently lying, petrified, in the hospital wing.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hannah." Ernie back tracked, he too was feeling upset at the thought of one of his best mates being petrified but he was the type of guy that copped with things internally and Hannah was more the type that bursts out crying.

"No, it's ok." Hannah wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"So, as I was saying," Ernie continued pompously, "it's obvious it's Potter. He was caught in the act last time-"Ernie avoided saying Justin's name as he knew that would start Hannah off again.

"I still don't think it's him, Ernie." Hannah interrupted him. "I was talking to Neville the other day when I was in the library and he told me he definitely didn't think it was Harry. Anyway, Harry and Neville share a dormitory; wouldn't you think he'd have noticed if Harry wanted to go around killing people? And _Muggleborns_, Ernie? His best friend is a muggleborn!"

"Well Longbottom might have missed something, and anyway, he hates the muggles he lives with." Ernie continued.

"But remember what he said the other day, 'It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them' or something of the sort. It doesn't prove anything." Hannah said stubbornly.

"Mark my words, Hannah." Ernie said as they stopped outside Greenhouse One. "It's him. I'd bet you 15 sickles."

"You're on!" Hannah said which surprised Ernie; she wasn't usually one for betting.

"You sure?" He said.

"I'm sure it's not Harry."

"I'm positive it is."

"15 sickles then." She said defiantly.

"It's a bet." Ernie said pompously as the two shook hands.

"Come right in, chaps, we'll be just continuing on from last lesson." Professor Sprout said as she ushered the class inside the greenhouse.

* * *

_Later that year_

It was only a few short months later that the school was filled with even more gossip than before, there had been another attack and this time everyone seemed to have changed their mind on who they thought was Slytherin's heir.

On the eve of Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater's attack, Ernie and Hannah could be found in the Hufflepuff common room. They, like everyone else around them, were discussing the attack in hushed voices.

"Now what do you say, Ernie?" Hannah gave a sad smirk. "Harry Potter would _never_ attack Hermione Granger. It can't be him."

"Well what about if....maybe one time.....it's possible?" Ernie finished feebly, although in his gut he knew it wasn't Harry Potter. He would never attack his best friend.

"Well I believe you owe someone an apology." Hannah, always the Hufflepuff, told him.

"You're right." Ernie nodded, he knew to admit when he was wrong and when to apologise to someone.

* * *

**Professor Sprout set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Harry went to tip an armful of withered stalks onto the compost heap and found himself face-to-face with Ernie Macmillan. Ernie took a deep breath and said, very formally, "I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well —"**

**He held out a pudgy hand, and Harry shook it.**

**Ernie and his friend Hannah came to work at the same Shrivelfig as Harry and Ron.**

"**That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie, breaking off dead twigs, "he seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."**

"**That's clever of you," said Ron, who didn't seem to have forgiven Ernie as readily as Harry.**

"**Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked.**

* * *

"You know what?" Hannah said cheerfully (or as cheerful as anyone could be in the present climate of fear and suspicion).

"What?" Ernie asked, taken aback by her cheerful tone.

"You owe me 15 sickles." She grinned.

"I suppose I do." Ernie said and reached into his pocket and took out some silver coins and handed them to Hannah.

"Thanks, I needed to stock up on some chocolate frogs; I'll give you one if you want." Hannah said as they made their way back up to the castle after their Herbology.

"Thanks." Ernie grinned.**

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Author's note: Thanks heaps for all the positive feedback and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've got a few more ideas but if you have any ideas (or characters) you'd like to see then please feel free to tell me in a review or PM me. I'm all ears.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews, I really do appreciate them.**

**Until next time, I've got Fred and George coming up.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	3. Fred and George W

**Just a quick note on why I call Remus 'Lupin' in this chapter while talking about him and when he talks. Usually I like to call him Remus, it's his name after all, but I feel that because this is from Fred and George's perspective, they'd call him Lupin in their head (much like Harry does in the Harry Potter books) so therefore he's called Lupin in the story, does that make sense? It doesn't matter if it doesn't, it was just a note. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

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__Fred and George Weasley 5th year (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) __

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_"I'm already regretting giving Harry the map." Fred Weasley said to his twin at the back of their Defence Against the Dark Arts class room on the last lesson before the Christmas Holidays.

"I know what you mean." George agreed as they leaned back in their chairs simultaneously, their notes completed in front of them (Lupin was one of the only professors they actually did the work for; they had respect for the guy). "It's not the secret passageways I miss, it's the knowing where everyone is."

"You know, that does sound a bit stalker like." Fred grinned mischievously.

"And you know that's not what I meant." George shot back, although he also grinned.

"I miss the idea that we'll ever find the Marauders." Fred sighed, and if either twin had been looking they might have seen their professor glance curiously in their direction, but of course they didn't.

"Ah the past generation of law breakers, they were truly inspirational men." George said in a dreamy tone. "What I wouldn't do to meet them!"

"But alas, we shall never find them, especially since we've given the map to Harry." Fred said solemnly.

"Come off it, we've met thousands of people, odds are we've met one of the Marauders before and just never realised it." George said to his twin. Maybe he really believe it, but maybe it was the hope that they would meet one of their idols, that he wanted to cling on to.

"I think we'd have realised if we'd met a _Marauder_, George." Fred scoffed as he shook his head at his twin.

"Not necessarily, especially not if they didn't want us to know who they were." George disagreed. "The Marauders would have been bright blokes; they would know how to make sure someone didn't know their identity."

"I just don't see how we could have met one and not known it." Fred shrugged his shoulders. "Now if you were to say 'I bet one of them ended up in Azkaban' then I'd believe you."

"Azkaban?" It was George's turn to scoff. "Like they'd have got caught if they did something bad enough to end up there."

"You never know, they might have gotten less devious in old age." Fred said, and the twins looked up when they heard Professor Lupin cough at the front of the classroom, he was looking straight at the twins.

They got the message and bent over their work again and pretended to be finishing off their notes.

"Anyway," Fred hissed so Lupin wouldn't hear them. "It's more likely that they ended up in Azkaban than that we've met one. They could have been at Hogwarts 500 years ago."

"I don't think the willow has been there that long, and the willow passageway is on the map, not that anyone could use it." George hissed back.

"You said it George, the willow _passageway_ is on it. No one could have gotten through it since the willow is on top of it. Wouldn't it make sense that the Marauders found the passage _before_ the willow was planted so they could still use it?" Fred persisted.

"Think what you want, but I still think there is a chance we've met one of the Marauders before, even if we haven't talked to them." George shrugged.

"There's a better chance that Ron will get O's on all his O. W. Ls than that we've met the one of the Marauders." Fred laughed.

"There's a better chance Harry won't end up in the hospital wing this year than one of them was Azkaban." George retorted.

"Come off it." Fred laughed again.

"I'd bet you anything that one was never in Azkaban." George challenged.

"I'd bet you anything that we've never met one." Fred challenged back.

"10 galleons for each then?" George grinned.

"10 galleons each it is." Fred grinned back and the twins shook hands with identical expressions of triumph on their faces.

"Fred, George, is there anything you'd like to share with the class?" Professor Lupin asked the twins, an amused smile on his face, almost like he knew what they'd been talking about (which was preposterous of course, only a _werewolf_ or something of the sort would have such heightened senses).

"Nothing important." Fred shook his head with an innocent expression on his face.

"No, nothing at all." George did the same thing.

Seconds later, however, there was a loud BANG and all the students in the room (minus the twins of course) were hanging in the air, suspended by their underwear.

"Do I even have to tell you that you have a detention?" Professor Lupin sighed, but the twins knew that he found it funny.

"Not...really..." George wheezed through his laughter.

* * *

_Summer before 7th year (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

It was the second week of the summer holidays and most of the wizarding teenage population was out enjoying the hot summer sun with their friends. The Weasley children however were stuck inside Number 12 Grimmauld Place, which wasn't nearly as exciting as they thought the Headquarters of the Anti-Voldemort movement would be.

Mrs Weasley, uncharacteristically, had given her kids the day off from cleaning, something which they were all grateful for. As Hermione had arrived the previous day, both Ron and Ginny were with her. Fred and George however were working on their Skiving Snackboxes.

"Right, well I have to say the Fainting Fancies work." George groaned as he got up from the floor, having recently passed out successfully.

"Right, now how do you think we'll solve the-"Fred started but then quickly turned around as they heard faint steps walking up the stairs.

"Mum." They said in unison and with a flick of their wands all the joke shop equipment was under the bed there was a chess board in front of them.

"Knight to D6." George said as they heard the bedroom door open.

"Bishop to D6." Fred smirked in fake triumph (they had set up the pieces so this play could be made).

"Boys, lunch is ready." Mrs Weasley said.

"Coming right this second." George said as he hurriedly got up.

"You're only saying that because you're losing." Fred said in mock indignation.

"Why I never!" George pretended to be insulted.

The two followed their mother down the stairs, chatting about not much to be truthful. When they walked into the kitchen they saw that their other diners were Ron, Hermione and Ginny of course, but also their old Professor and an escaped convict of Azkaban. You know, just your average lunch mates.

The two adults were in a quiet discussion so Fred and George chose to sit near them, to hopefully pick up on something about the Order.

Lunch was just sandwiches but the Weasleys, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black enjoyed them immensely.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny left quickly after finishing, they were probably in the middle of something or another, maybe writing to Harry or something similar. The two Order members stayed at the table and so did Fred and George, enjoying the break from joke shop work.

"So that's one Skiving Snackbox we've perfected." George said in a hushed tone so Mrs Weasley wouldn't over hear them (even if she was in a different room, the twins had found out the hard way that their mother could just about hear anything when it came to mischief making).

"Yeah, but we still need to find out how to fix that rash that occurs with the Nosebleed Nougat." Fred said, rubbing his arm where said rash had appeared.

"I was thinking that maybe if we tried using-"George started but he was interrupted by an interested voice.

"Skiving Snackboxes?" Sirius Black questioned.

"What?" The twins' heads whipped up to stare at the former convict (who was really innocent) who they had found they got on quite well with, in the few times they'd had a conversation with him.

"What are they?" Sirius asked. "Because if they're what I think they are, then they sound bloody brilliant."

"Well what do you _think_ they are then?" George questioned, he wasn't too keen to tell anyone who might rat them out to their Mum (although they liked Sirius, they didn't know him all too well and as for Lupin, well once a teacher, always a teacher).

"Something, presumably some sort of snack that lets you skive off lessons." Sirius grinned.

"Well they're actually sweets but that is the concept, a range of sweets to make you ill." Fred shrugged. Sirius's grin broadened and even Lupin couldn't help but give a small smile.

"And you're making them yourselves?" Lupin asked interestedly.

"Yeah, but we're having a bit of problem with the side effects." George sighed.

"But once we get them perfect, they should be good." Fred said.

"Man Moony, we could have used those when we were at school." Sirius said.

"I don't know about this 'we' business, Padfoot, I'm sure you and Prongs would have used them but I'm quite happy going to my classes thank you very much." Lupin smiled. "So what illnesses have you got? I'd imagine they couldn't be too serious, otherwise people would ask questions."

Both Lupin and Sirius turned to look at the twins, who were sitting there, identical mouths a gape, staring at two of the Marauders.

"What?" Sirius asked, completely nonplussed.

"Moony-"Fred stared at Remus.

"-Padfoot-"George stared at Sirius.

"-You also mentioned-"Fred started.

"Prongs." The two said with their mouths still open as they stared at Sirius and Lupin.

"What about it?" Sirius was still confused. Lupin, however, was chuckling to himself, he had indeed heard what the twins were talking about in the back of his classroom two years ago and this incident brought the memory forward. "They were our nicknames at school."

Fred and George snapped out shock at the exact same time.

"You owe me 10 galleons." Fred said to his twin, holding out his hand to take the money.

"You owe me 10 galleons as well." George replied, his hand also outstretched. The two laughed as started walking out of the kitchen to get each other's winnings. Then they were going back down to the kitchen to have a serious chat with their idols.

"I _told _you we had met a Marauder before," Lupin and Sirius could hear one of the twins saying, "We were in a Marauders _class_ when I said it-"

"Yeah but I told _you_," the other was saying, "that one of them had been to Azkaban. You didn't believe me, you said that they'd never have gotten-"

The voices died out as the twins got further and further away.

"They found the map, didn't they, Moony?" Sirius grinned at his oldest friend.

"I believe they did Padfoot, I believe they did." Lupin grinned back.

**

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****Author's note: Well I certainly do hope you enjoyed the long chapter. I was quite surprised at the length it turned out to be. I suppose it's because there was so much background information that it ended it up being long. I also hope that you didn't mind that I put in a lot of extra information, I could have just started with them having lunch but I decided that I'd start with the Snackboxes. **

**I'd really love your views on this chapter, so reviews would be great! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I love you platonically. **

**NOTE: There is a poll on my profile which is asking you who you want to see more bets of. You can vote for up to 5 of the possibilities I've listed. If you have an idea that isn't on the poll then just tell me and I'll add it on.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	4. Alicia S, Katie B and Angelina J

**Just so everyone knows, I'm going completely canon on this story so all the pairings are the ones in the books or ones that J.K Rowling specified later (e.g. Percy/Audrey, although I don't think I'll be doing a chapter on them, Percy just isn't the betting type). If you don't like specific canon pairings then you probably won't like some chapters. I know the pairing in this chapter has lots of people for and against it so I'm just warning you might not like it (which confuses me completely because I'm in love with this pairing). **

**Sorry about the ramble.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

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__Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, 6th/7th year- (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

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"Complete morons, they don't take anything seriously." Angelina told her friends as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room after an...ahem...interesting Quidditch practice which involved Angelina yelling herself hoarse at a couple of redheaded beaters.

"That's just who they are, Ange," Alicia tried to cool off her angry friend, "you've been friends with them for almost seven years, you should know that they mess about all time."

"I don't mind that they mess about usually, just _not during my Quidditch practice_." She said through clenched teeth.

"Well that's never going to happen." Katie said, smiling in an amused manner at her Quidditch captain.

"They should try then." Angelina said, clearly still angry at the twins. "I don't know how Wood managed to control them for five years, they're insane!"

"Come on Angelina, you've always known they were insane, why did you think this year was going to be any different?" Alicia asked innocently.

"I don't know." Angelina admitted. "I just thought maybe they'd have grown up a bit more during the holidays-"

"-They're not immature all the time, Ange, they can be mature when they want to be-" Katie interrupted but Angelina steamrolled ahead, not even listening to what her friend had said.

"And maybe I thought they'd do it for me, I mean-"Angelina stopped as she looked at the smirking expressions on two of her best friends' faces. "What?" she asked.

"Well you see, Angelina Marie Johnson, Alicia and I have been talking about it-"Katie started, still smirking at her friend.

"-and we reckon you've got more than friendship feelings to one of the twins." Alicia's smirk became bigger at the look on Angelina's face.

"WHAT! You think I like one of the twins? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" she exclaimed.

"Is it Angelina?" Alicia asked her friend as both her and Katie slung an arm each around Angelina's shoulders.

"Yes it is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! They're like brothers to me! Annoying, irritating brothers who don't take Quidditch as seriously as-"Angelina was cut off by Katie.

"You see, we're not convinced." Katie shrugged.

"Look," Angelina freed herself from their grip and stood opposite them in the middle of the seventh floor corridor, her hands on her hips, "I went out with Fred on one date, don't you think that if I had romantic feelings towards him it would have lasted longer?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but you were young and foolish back th-"Alicia started.

"It was LAST YEAR!"

"Not the point Ange, look at the facts-"Katie said.

"What facts?" Angelina asked as she surveyed Katie and Alicia through piercing brown eyes.

"You know them better than anyone but their own family-"Alicia said as Katie started counting the number of things on her fingers.

"Because we're friends!"

"You are one of the only people can tell them apart, you never get fooled when they try and pull that they're the other one." Alicia continued as though she hadn't heard Angelina.

"I'm just observant." Angelina said defiantly, arms crossed across her crest in a defensive manner now.

"They make you laugh, even when you're in a mood."

"They make everyone laugh! That hardly counts!"

"Even when you're annoyed at them-"Alicia started.

"Like today for instance." Katie interjected.

"-you can't help but find them amusing." Alicia said. "Even if it's in the middle of Quidditch practice."

"That's not true!"

"Next, you're one of the only people that can make them laugh and I have to say that I imagine they'll end up with girls with that quality." Katie said.

"That doesn't mean anything!" Angelina continued to protest.

"You always love spending time with them." Alicia told her.

"Who wouldn't?"

"They're your best friends that are guys-"

"EXACTLY! How awkward would that be if I liked one of them?"

"-and best friends are a great foundation for romantic interest later on."

"I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH EITHER OF THE WEASLEY TWINS!" Angelina yelled angrily.

"Not yet you're not." Katie said with a cheeky grin. "But we're sure you'll end up marrying one of them."

"Argh!" Angelina groaned with indignation, she did _not _like Fred or George as more than friends, and she never would!

Alicia and Katie just smirked at her in that annoying 'I know something you don't' way.

"Look, I'll bet you both 25 galleons each that I'll never get married to a Weasley twin." Angelina said, just desperate to get these two of her back.

"You're so on Angelina Johnson." Alicia said and the two shook hands, followed by Katie and Angelina. The three then proceeded to enter the common room in silence.

As she walked off to sit with some of her other friends, Katie winked and said "See you later, Mrs Weasley."

"I DON'T LIKE EITHER OF THEM!"_

* * *

__Several years after the War_

It was a warm, sunny, spring day at the Burrow. The grass had been mowed; the hedges trimmed and new Flutterby bushes had been planted. Rows of seats had been placed in the garden because as it was a beautiful day, outside would be perfect for this event.

By 2 o'clock rows of people were seated and two men stood on a small platform in front of the seats. One was a small, old wizard with startlingly white hair who was smiling happily as he rocked back and forwards on the balls of his feet, the other, a redheaded man in his best dress robes, pulling at his collar nervously. His blue eyes looked nervous but still joyful and the hole on the side of his head where an ear should have been was hardly noticeable.

There was no best man, he had decided that the place was too big to fill, and the only person who could do it was gone. She was fine with that and respected his opinion, to make it orderly; there was no maid of honour either.

He gulped when he saw her at the end of the aisle, her black hair curled around her face, making her chocolate coloured eyes stand out; she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She smiled all the way up towards him and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze when she finally reached him.

Words were exchanged and then:

"Do you, George Fabian Weasley, take Angelina Marie Johnson to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Do you, Angelina Marie Johnson, take George Fabian Weasley to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"Then I declare you bonded for life." The old wizard said as George and Angelina kissed for the first time as husband and wife.

There was a loud round of applause and many of the women watching had tears in their eyes.

As Angelina walked back down the aisle, with George next to her, she looked at two of her best friends. Both were grinning at her and each holding up a small sign.

_We told you that you'd end up with one of them! _Katie Bell's read.

_We'll take those 50 galleons now! _Alicia Spinnet's told her.

Angelina couldn't help but laugh, she'd forgotten about the bet until now. Well, she thought as she smiled, a bet's a bet.**

* * *

****Author's note: Sorry the end bit was a bit angsty (what with implying Fred's death and everything) and I thought it was slightly cliché but there is no other way to do it I'm afraid. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you're a Fred/Angelina lover and hate George/Angelina then just think of the first section and change George's name to Fred's in the second bit. It all fits! Well not really but you know what I mean. Also, I know that I probably could have done a better job with the "Do you, George Fabian..." but that's how I like it. And on that note, I have no idea what either of their middle names are and I looked for them on J.K Rowling's website and couldn't find them so I made them up. Personally, I think George's is realistic with Molly's brothers were called Fabian and Gideon Prewett and died around the time the twins were born (well maybe a year or two afterwards) and I feel that Molly would have a close relationship with her brothers and might call them Fred Gideon Weasley and George Fabian Weasley. Anyway, it's just a thought and one of I've seen other author's use too. As for 'Marie' as Angelina's middle name, well I just thought it fit nicely. **

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I'd really appreciate it if everyone who reads this story reviews it because it _does_ make me want to write more and it _does_ make me better. Thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed, you're all simply amazing.**

**Thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll! I can definitely see that a few people are itching for a second generation chapter so I'll try and do that next. If you haven't voted, get to it!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	5. James and Albus P

**Long awaited (but not really) second generation chapter. Although I have to say, it's not really as serious as the previous chapters which all had something to do with a plot of the books (well not the main plot but side ones, well you know what I mean) and we all knew the outcome of because we've all read the books (well I hope you've all read the books, if not, WHAT ARE YOU DOING! GO AND READ THEM NOW, THEY'RE INCREDIBLE). So this one is a little bit different in the fact no one but me (and you once you get to the end) knows the outcome! It's quite exciting. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

Albus and James Potter, 1st/2nd Year_

* * *

It was a sunny day at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry; the grounds of the school were swarming with students who were desperate to catch the last of the sun before winter engulfed them.

By the lake there sat two boys of around the same age, one looked about a year older than the other. They could have been identical, they had the same messy black hair, their bodies had the same build and they both wore glasses around their eyes. The only differences were that one had a slightly longer nose than the other, one's face was slightly rounder and what looked like the younger boy had innocent emerald coloured eyes and the other had mischievous dark brown eyes.

"We're doing great at practice," James Potter, otherwise known as the boy with the mischievous dark brown eyes, told his younger brother, "We'll flatten Slytherin for sure."

"I'm not too sure." Albus said, despite being a year younger than his brother, the two got on quite well and every once and awhile they spent some time together. "From what I saw of their practice, they were good."

"Well we'll be better. We've got a fantastic team, have you seen Wood? He's the best keeper in the school!" James persisted.

"I still think you'll have a tough job beating Slytherin." Albus shrugged, although he was younger than (and not as obsessed as) James, he still did know a lot about Quidditch.

"You're in Gryffindor! How can you think that they won't win?" James said incredulously.

"I'm just taking a realistic approach," Albus shrugged. "Slytherin's got one of the best sides they've seen in years."

"You've been hanging out with Rose too much." James sighed, in reference to the 'realistic' approach. "And Gryffindor winning is a realistic approach! We've got a fantastic side too! We'll win next Saturday hands down."

"Well..." Albus said doubtfully.

"Don't you have any faith in our ability?" James asked his brother in almost a harsh voice.

"I do, I just reckon Slytherin could win. I'm not saying they will, just that they might." Albus said defensively.

"I bet you 15 sickles that we'll beat Slytherin." James said defiantly.

"No way! There is just as good of a chance that you'll win as there is that they'll win. I was just merely pointing out that it's not going to be a walk in the park for you. I'm not stupid James and I like my money in my pocket where it is." Albus said stubbornly and got up from where he was sitting. "I've got to go and start my Transfiguration homework." And with that, the younger Potter walked away from his brother.

"WIMP!" James called after him. "YOU COULD HAVE BEEN 15 SICKLES RICHER!"

"OR 15 SICKLES POORER!" Albus called back.

* * *

_The next Saturday_

Jeremiah Williams, the seventh year Gryffindor seeker, pulled out a spectacular dive after an hour of play, a small gold ball clutched in his large hand.

"WILLIAMS HAS GOT THE SNITCH! FINAL SCORE 220-60 TO GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR WIN AGAINST SLYTHERIN FOR THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON!" the commentator was calling from the box, closely watched by Professor Longbottom.

The cheering from the Gryffindor stands was deafening as Jeremiah landed on the pitch with a massive grin on his somewhat handsome face. They ran out onto the pitch, yelling and cheering and waving their Gryffindor flags.

The Gryffindor team was in the middle, in a massive group huddle. It was especially exciting for James Potter and Fred Weasley, the team's new second year beaters, as today's match was their first game and it was incredible for them to win it.

Of course, what everyone really likes about the Quidditch game is the after party in the Gryffindor common room. You know, the one where the older students sneak (well it's more like 'ask for' as the house elves just give it away) food from the kitchens and the whole house celebrates a victory.

"You see now why I didn't take that bet?" Albus Potter grinned at his brother as the two drank Butterbeer by the fire, celebrating the Quidditch team's victory.

"Na, I don't. What's life without a little risk?" James shrugged.

"I'd still rather keep my money." Albus said.

"Yeah but I always knew you were boring." James said, before getting called over by a group of his friends who were about to attempt putting some WWW fireworks into unsuspecting peoples drinks.**

* * *

Author's note: I'm not too fond of this one to be truthful, but don't worry, I'm loving the next chapter I've started.**

**Remember, any ideas that you would like to see, feel free to tell me and I'll try to do them (it may take me awhile but I'll get there).**

**Thanks to everyone for the reviews, they're greatly appreciated and I'd love it if you could all take out five seconds of your time to write one. Thanks heaps!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	6. James P and Sirius B

**ATTENTION: So yeah, I'm going to have a rant about reviews. Now I've got 14 alerters on this story, and you know what I think that should mean oh 14 alerters who are reading this? I think that means I should get 14 reviews per chapter. Now I'm not trying to be rude or ungrateful but I got NO reviews for the last chapter, out of at LEAST 14 of you. I'm no saint, I don't review every story that I read but I **_**certainly **_**review every story I alert because obviously I like it enough to continue reading it. I don't care if you don't have anything more to say than "I liked that chapter" or "Good work", I'll even except "Oh dork-with-glasses you are the most amazing writer in the whole world" (that was a joke in case you missed it, I certainly know that that is not true). I'd even love reviews that say "I hate this story" as long as you have a "because..." at the end to help me get better. A question for you all reading this, is it really that hard to write a few words at the end of each chapter? Honestly does it take up that much of your time? Because I don't think so. I was just a bit bummed that no one review my last chapter, I don't care if you didn't review because you hated it, TELL ME THAT and I'll work out a way to write better next time. Well I better let you get on with the chapter so this rant doesn't take up longer than the chapter because knowing my ranting abilities, it could happen. So thank you for reading this, and favouriting it (and if you have then I most **_**definitely**_** think you need to review, if you love it enough for it to be in your favourites then you obviously love it enough to let me know that in a review), alerting it, now I'd really appreciate a review. Thank you very much for reading.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

James Potter and Sirius Black, 5th Year_

* * *

The Gryffindor common room was quiet for the first time in awhile. It was April, and the exams were fast approaching. For the fifth year students, that meant O. W. Ls For once, the rest of Gryffindor house could actually see James Potter and Sirius Black studying, something they were all shocked by (it was a well known fact that the two, especially Sirius, hardly did any study but somehow managed to get top marks anyway, unlike their friend Remus Lupin who worked hard for his marks).

"Well, I'm starving." Sirius said as put his Transfiguration notes down.

"Padfoot, you had dinner less than an hour ago." Remus said, not taking his eyes off the charms notes he was reading.

"That doesn't mean he can't be hungry, Moony." Peter pointed out.

"Right you are, Wormtail." Sirius grinned. "Who wants to come with me to the Kitchens?"

"I would but I just don't understand why Hinkypunks are classed as dark creatures." Peter said, looking through his notes with a lost look on his face.

"I'll help you with that, Pete." Remus said kindly.

"I'll come." James said as he drew his eyes away from a pretty redhead who was studying with some friends on the other side of the common room.

"That's the spirit, Prongs!" Sirius said happily and the two left for the kitchens to get something to fill Sirius's stomach.

By the time they got back to the common, after both had eaten a sufficient amount of chocolate éclairs, they found Remus teaching Peter exactly why Hinkypunks were classed as dark and dangerous creatures.

"So with the lantern on the top of his head, people follow the light and then-"Remus was saying.

"Why don't people just not follow the light?" Peter asked him.

"Well Pete, it's because..." Remus began to explain calmly.

"Hm, seems like Moony's a good teacher." James observed.

"Are you surprised though? He's got the patience of a saint." Sirius said. "Remember that time when we spilt that permanent ink all over his favourite jumper? He didn't yell once!"

"Yeah, but he didn't speak to us for a week." James pointed out.

"That's beside the point; the point is that he's got more patience than all of Gryffindor put together. Could you imagine trying to teach Wormtail about Hinkypunks without pitching yourself off the Astronomy Tower?"

"Not really, no. Pete's great and everything, but teaching him that would be immensely frustrating." James agreed.

"Exactly!" Sirius said as the two sat down next to their friends.

The night wore on; with James and Sirius getting bored after about an hour and half of studying and decided to play chess (Remus had told them that under _no_ circumstances were they allowed to play exploding snap while everyone was trying to study). Remus had finished explaining to Peter about Hinkypunks and was now telling him about the International Confederation of Wizards and why the warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join.

After about an hour, in which Peter could now successfully tell you about the International Confederation of Wizards, Hinkypunks, Grindylows and the difference between counter-jinxes and jinxes, Remus went off to bed looking exhausted.

"Night." He said to the other three marauders, two of whom were in the middle of an intense chess battle between a rook and a knight and one who was now reading through some more History of Magic notes (admittedly, they were Remus's that Peter had borrowed).

"Night." They called after him.

"Checkmate!" James declared after another half an hour of playing. Peter had gone off to bed about 20 minutes after Remus so it was just Sirius and James, plus a few 5th and 7th years still studying, left in the common room.

"I was so close to victory!" Sirius moaned dramatically.

"Padfoot, you were about as close to victory as Wormtail is of getting O's on all his O. W. Ls." James shook his head at his friend's antics.

"Well if Moony continues to help him, it's a bit closer to victory." Sirius said.

"True, Moony was a good teacher tonight." James admitted.

"I bet he ends up as a Professor, what with that patience he has and the book worm that we all know he is." Sirius said.

"Yeah, he'd be well suited to a Professor, but I don't think it'll happen." James said.

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

"Well I don't see the Ministry and the rest of Hogwarts being too thrilled about his furry little problem. It's already a massive thing that he was allowed at Hogwarts as a student, I don't see them letting him here to teach." James said sadly, he really did hate all the prejudice surrounding werewolves and he knew it would affect Remus all the worse once they left Hogwarts.

"Yeah, but if Dumbledore is still Headmaster then I reckon Remus would have a shot. Dumbledore wouldn't care about his furry little problem, in fact, he _doesn't_ care about it." Sirius tried to convince James.

"Even so, you and I both know that the Ministry would have to approve, and I don't see that happening." James shrugged.

"I bet you 25 galleons that Moony becomes a professor here." Sirius said confidently.

"You really think so?" James said sceptically. It wasn't that he didn't think Remus would be a good teacher, it's just that there was a lot of restrictions on what werewolves could and could not do (which James thought was a load of crap, anyone who had ever met Remus would know that he was just a regular person).

"Yeah, I do." Sirius said, always the optimist.

"Alright then." James said. He was confident he'd win, even if he did hope he was wrong.

"It's a deal." Sirius held out his hand for James to shake.

"Wait, when do we know if I win? What are we going to do? Wait until he's dead?"

"Alright, by the time he's fifty." Sirius proposed.

"You mean I have to wait 35 years until I get my money?" James pouted.

"Yup, or when he's dead, it's your choice." Sirius smirked.

"When he's fifty it is." James said and the two shook hands.

"You're so going to lose." James and Sirius said simultaneously, identical smirks on their faces.

* * *

_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_

It was the Halloween night after he'd escaped from Azkaban and he _was_ going to find that sick, traitorous bastard and make sure that his godson would always be safe from the rat. Even if the whole wizarding world thought Sirius a mass-murder, he was going to make sure that rat _never_ put a hand (or paw) on Harry.

So here Sirius Black was, hiding in the shadows on the fourth floor corridor (as a dog), making sure that absolutely everybody was at the Halloween Feast before making his move to Gryffindor tower.

After over three months on the run, Sirius was becoming quite the master at remaining silent (something that had been extraordinarily hard in his youth). However, his silence was almost broken in a happy bark when he saw a man walk past the statue where he was hiding.

It was a tired looking man with light brown hair, flecked with grey. His warm brown eyes flew across the parchment he was reading as he made his way down the corridor in his shabby robes.

Only the grey in his hair and the premature lines on Remus Lupin's face showed how much time had passed.

_What's he doing here? _Sirius thought to himself, trying to stop himself running out to his old best friend by questioning himself (_Moony would have been proud, asking myself intellectual questions _his dog form smiled with memories of a younger Remus telling him always to ask himself questions to make sure that he furthered his learning).

Then, as the shabby robes of his friend whipped out of sight, Sirius smirked.

_Looks like I was correct in my assumption. Looks here like Remus Lupin is a professor._

Even as a dog, you could still recognise, if anyone had found his hiding spot, a sad smile on Sirius Black's face.

_When I see you again Prongs, wherever and whenever that is, you so owe me 25 galleons_**

* * *

Author's note: Sorry the end bit was a bit depressing, but realistically, the whole situation Sirius and Remus were in was depressing. I'm finding it hard again to think of Peter as a traitor, it kind of breaks my heart that such good friends (even if they are fictional characters) fell apart. Maybe it's because I'm reading a fabulous story (which you should all check out) called **_**Symptoms of Insanity**_** which is such a good story of Marauder friendship and it **_**doesn't **_**have Peter left out which is what I hate in some Marauder fanfictions. Peter was there, and their friend, so you can't just make him evil from the start, thanks very much. Sorry about my rant, I probably shouldn't have gone on about it. **

**Please review. PLEASE! It makes my day so much nicer and my writing just that much better.**

**Well I have to say, on my poll there was the highest number of votes for the Marauders (not that I was surprised, the marauders as so awesome) so I just had to do a marauder chapter (and because of the fact that I love them). If you haven't voted on the poll, then I suggest you do so. I'm keeping it up until the end of this story and I'll be doing a chapter on the highest couple when I don't have my own idea for a chapter.**

**Sorry, I'm rambling again, it's what my debating coach tells me I can't do so I'm sorry.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	7. Albus D and Minerva M

**ATTENTION: Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter (and I'm sorry if I guilt tripped you into it but I'm just super duper happy that you took the time out to review), I really really really appreciated it. It means so much to me when I get a review and it literally does put a smile on my face so thank you so so much!**

**Now the top in the votes on my profile page (please vote on it if you haven't) is Sirius, Remus, Fred and George but as I've just had a Marauders chapter, I'll be waiting till next chapter to do that one. **

**This chapter is dedicated to DanniGirrl0001 as they requested it. I really do hope you think I did it justice because I'm not really sure that I'll be good at writing these characters. Enjoy it regardless!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

__Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall (Marauders 4th year) __

* * *

"_Something needs to be done about the boy, Albus." Professor McGonagall was saying as she paced back and forth in front of her colleague's desk, telling him all about the Marauders latest prank.

She stopped in her pacing to look at Dumbledore, but he wasn't looking at her, he was pulling out a bag of sherbet lemons. While reaching an old hand into the bag he seemed to stop himself.

"Oh sorry, how rude of me, would you like one?" he offered the bag to McGonagall who pursed her lips.

"No thank you." She replied rather coolly. He didn't say anything so McGonagall continued. "He's a danger to the whole castle; they all are, with the possible exception of Mr Lupin when he's acting resp-"

"My dear Minerva, I wouldn't call them a _danger_; they're just having a laugh, as all young men do." Dumbledore said as he reached for another sweet.

"Even so," McGonagall huffed, "something needs to be done about Mr Potter's 'crush' on Miss Evans. It's driving her, the whole school and, quite frankly, me crazy! Did you see what he did to the hall last week for Valentine's Day?"

"Ah yes, I did feel that the confetti was a nice touch." Dumbledore's blue eyes sparkled in amusement.

"Albus! You must think that he needs to stop with all the antics! At least tone them down a bit!" McGonagall cried.

"Ah Minerva, we must not tell people what to do with their hearts, but let them find out for themselves. I'm sure Mr Potter will realise to give up some day or Miss Evans will return the feelings."

"That I do doubt! Lily Evans and James Potter! Preposterous!" McGonagall said.

"I do not think so. After all, it does not seem that Mr Potter is going to give up anytime soon." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily at the thought.

"Well, I for one would bet you a year's worth of those sherbet lemons that Lily Evans will never give James Potter the time of day. Let alone a date!" McGonagall proposed.

"I shall accept that bet, one can never have enough sherbet lemons." Dumbledore said.

"Really? I didn't mean...Oh never mind, a bet it is." McGonagall said in a resigned voice.

"Oh I do look forward to those sweets."

* * *

_Three Years Later_

Minerva McGonagall was not one to be startled often. She prided herself on being confident, courageous and always prepared for the unexpected. However, this didn't stop her from having an early heart attack as she rounded the seventh floor corridor one evening.

All she was doing was checking on Peeves who was rumoured to be 'fixing' some suits of armour and Professor McGonagall was going to investigate before he did any real damage to the castle.

It just so happened on that on her walk she walked in on an *ahem* interesting incident taking place just around the corner from the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Now if it had been any other pair, McGonagall wouldn't have been surprised. It wouldn't have been the first time she caught students kissing after hours. However it was this _particular_ pair that had her clutching her heart.

Lily Evans and James Potter were intertwined in the middle of the seventh floor corridor.

Luckily, Minerva McGonagall was a composed witch and turned around before she disturbed the _couple_. Breathing heavily, she took the longer route to Peeves and almost bumped into the Headmaster.

"Are you alright Minerva? You look like you've seen a Death Eater in the castle." Dumbledore asked in a worried turn as he observed the Transfiguration teacher.

"I...back there...impossible..." she took a deep breath "yes I'm fine. What are you doing out at this time?"

"I was just off to the kitchen's to fetch myself some hot chocolate. Would you like to join me?" Dumbledore asked.

"No thank you. I have to stop Peeves from destroying the suits of armour." McGonagall replied.

"Ah, I am very thankful for that Minerva." Dumbledore nodded and then went on his way to the kitchens.

He was a few metres away when Professor McGonagall remembered something.

"Albus? Where can I get the best sherbet lemons from?" She asked him.

Albus Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he told her exactly where he got his sweets from. Now he knew had startled her and he had known from the beginning, after all, that love conquered all.**

* * *

****Author's note: I wasn't so sure about this chapter to start with but I found that I quite liked it once it got going. Your opinions? I've never written these characters before (well except McGonagall giving detentions in some of my next-generation fics) so I'm curious to see how they came off. **

**Anyway, thank you again HEAPS AND HEAPS for those reviews, they were appreciated so much!**

**TTFN  
Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	8. Remus L, Sirius B, Fred and George W

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (all bits taken directly from the book will be in bold)**_

* * *

Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Fred and George Weasley (Order of the Phoenix)_

"No, Sirius, you _can't_ come." Remus Lupin continued his conversation with his oldest friend at the dining table in the empty kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place one morning.

"Why not? It's not like anyone is going to be seeing us. I'm not that irresponsible, I'm not as stupid as I was 15 years ago; Dumbledore should know that ." Sirius said defiantly.

"He does knows that, Sirius." Remus said for what seemed like the millionth time that summer. "He just doesn't want to take any risks. He wants you alive."

"Why is he so intent on keeping _me_ alive? Why isn't he just as worried about the rest of the order?" Sirius asked angrily, it was driving him nuts to be stuck in _this_ house. If he could just get out and do something...

"Because no one else in the order has a ten thousand galleon prize on his head." Remus shot back. He was tired of this argument; they'd had it at least 10 times since the Order had started using Grimmauld Place as head quarters.

"Plus, you're really not that helpful." Sirius and Remus turned around to see the Weasley twins enter the kitchen. If this had been said by anyone else, you could have bet that Sirius would start shouting, but with the twins, it was obviously a joke so he took it as one.

"Yeah, and you'd just be another annoyance on this top secret order mission that we'd really appreciate for you to tell us about." The other twin said as they sat down in front of the two men.

"Well I'd hate to disappoint you boys, but it's not a top secret order mission." Remus smiled at the two. "It's about picking Harry up from his aunt and uncles."

"Don't worry mate," Fred pulled a face, "you're not missing anything. Horrid place that is."

"Although if you were to do some mischief there, it wouldn't be too bad." George pointed out. "Even so, Harry must be going nuts there."

"Oh he is. He sent his owl to peck me to death." Sirius said darkly but Fred and George laughed anyway and Remus smiled.

"He's done that to Ron and Hermione too. He must be pretty angry." George said.

"Oh he'll be plenty angry." Remus said. "And he'll take it out on someone by shouting."

"You really think that?" Fred and Sirius said at the same time.

"Yeah. He's like Lily; she had the biggest set of lungs her out of anyone I ever knew." Remus shrugged.

"I agree. I can see Harry as the type of bloke who would start shouting at someone," George agreed. "Preferably not me."

"I don't see it. Harry's always been so relaxed, especially when people didn't believe him about not entering the Tournament last year. He didn't even yell at Ron for being a complete prat!" Fred said.

"Come off it, he's an ickle teenager now, isn't he? He's got those pent up hormones that'll need releasing." George scoffed.

"Na, if he's anything like James he'll just let it roll off. He'll be mad but he won't shout about it." Sirius said.

"But he's not like James." Remus turned to Sirius. "He's so much more like Lily. How could you not see that?"

"Well I'll agree he's like her in some aspects, but here I reckon he'll be like his old man." Sirius shrugged.

"No way." Remus and George said at the same time.

"He's going to start shouting." George said.

"No he's not! How could you even think that?" Fred asked his twin.

"Because that's just how he is." George shrugged.

"No way. He's going to be chill about it. Well not chill but he won't start shouting at anyone." Fred said.

"Face it; he's going to start shouting." George said stubbornly.

"Well at least one of you has a grasp on things." Sirius said, looking at Fred.

"Yeah, _one_ of them." Remus said, looking at George.

"15 galleons?" the four of them said at the same time. "You're on."

With four wicked grins, they shook hands.

* * *

_That evening_

"**SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT - WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS? WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME! BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING? CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR–FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON -I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER -"**

* * *

Being only a floor above the shouting, Fred and George could hear every word that Harry was yelling at the top of his lungs. They were almost pissing themselves with laughter. They could just imagine everything that was happening from Harry's face as he shouted to Ron's dumbstruck expression.

"I believe you owe me 15 galleons." George managed after they'd finished laughing their heads off.

"I believe it was worth it." Fred said, pulling the money out of his jeans and handing it to his twin. "It goes back into the funds anyway."

"Yeah but I get the moral high ground of winning." George smirked as the two disapparated simultaneously to the room below with a CRACK

* * *

Being several floors down, the Order couldn't hear what was making the muffled noise from some room above. It was barely anything so they all continued with their meeting, not paying any attention to it. Well all except two of them. There were two members that didn't go exactly back to normal at the outburst.

Remus Lupin was smirking triumphantly, occasionally looking in his friend's direction. Sirius Black, on the other hand, was avoiding the werewolf's gaze. It was after Dumbledore announced the meeting finished that Remus walked over to Sirius.

"I believe you owe me 15 galleons." Remus grinned.

"I believe it would have been worth it if we could actually hear what he was yelling." Sirius grumbled as he handed over the gold.

"Well I guess that makes us even now that I've won the 15 galleons that I lost on the whole Lily and James bet." Remus said happily, just imagining the chocolate he would buy with this money.

"You forgot all those other bets we've made over the years." Sirius reminded him.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those ones. Some of them were particularly good." He grinned.

**

* * *

Author's note: Well there you have it, my Sirius, Remus, Fred and George chapter. I know most of you probably expected something to do with pranks or something but I had no inspiration for that, and seeing as all four were equally as skilled in the art of prank making, there wasn't much to do. Whereas for this one I felt it was a judge of character. I've always found George the more sensitive twin (and that's even before Fred died) so in this instance I feel that he'd side with Remus. Remus to me has always been sensitive and taught Harry for a year and knows Lily so I figure he'd see him as more Lily than James. For Sirius, well I do feel that he does think of Harry a lot like James and that's why he took that side. As for Fred, well I needed the sides to be even and he does have a good point. Harry doesn't get outright mad (and by that, I mean shouting at people) until this point in the books so all evidence would point towards that side.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate them so much!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	9. James P and Alice L

**This chapter is dedicated to ****joyfulchild96 who wanted a James Sirius Potter and Alice Longbottom bet. I really hope that you enjoy it and think that I did the characters justice! **

**Oh and the only reason I'm putting James's middle name in the name and year thing is because there are two James Potters and two Alice Longbottoms (and as Fred Weasley is it, there are two Freds as well), it's just so you can tell the difference.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

James Sirius Potter and Alice Longbottom, 5th year

* * *

"_You're completely delusional!"

"You're barking mad!"

"How could you possibly think that?"

"How could you possibly _not_ think that?"

"COULD YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP?" Fred Weasley shouted over the top of his friend's bickering.

"Not until he admits he's wrong." Alice Longbottom huffed as she glared at her friend.

"Not until she admits she's being uptight." James Potter countered.

"Uptight? When am I ever uptight?" Alice rounded back on James.

"When are you _not_ uptight?" James countered.

"You're _so_ immature."

"Resorting back to insults, are we?"

"JUST SHUT UP!" It was Roxanne this time that had had enough; she glared at her two friends as they continued to glare at each other. "Right, now what's the real problem?"

"Well...he...she...Quidditch...exams..." James and Alice started talking over each other and no one could understand a word of what they were saying. "And obviously he/she is wrong!" they concluded together.

"I didn't catch any of that. So Alice, what happened?" Roxanne asked.

"Well, I was just sitting here; studying for our exams which are in _15 weeks_ by the way and James comes up and says that we're having an emergency Quidditch practice."

"Which we were going to until someone decided not to-"James started but was interrupted by Alice as she continued on with her story.

"Which is ridiculous because we had one _this morning_-"

"The pitch was free! We have the final coming up next week. I had to take the-"

"AND THEN I TOLD JAMES I COULDN'T GO," Alice almost shouted over the top of James. "Because I had to study. He then decided to tell me that the exams were ages away and I didn't need to study anyway-"

"Which is true." James rolled his eyes.

"And then he said he'd kick me off the team if I didn't come, which is completely ridiculous, because I 'wasn't committed enough' because according to him, the Quidditch match is more important than our O. W. Ls." Alice finished.

"It is." James rolled his eyes.

"How could you possibly think that?"

"How could you possibly _not_ think that?"

"You're completely delusional!"

"You're barking mad!"

"STOP IT! YOU'VE GONE AROUND IN A COMPLETE CIRCLE!" Fred yelled, grasping his flaming red hair in frustration. "I'm trying to do my Transfiguration homework so that Harrison won't fail me and Mum won't kill me, so PLEASE be quiet!"

Alice and James stared at their friend, shocked at his outburst.

"He's right." Roxanne said. "You guys did go around in a complete circle. This isn't a big problem. James, Alice is right, exams are more important than Quidditch but Alice, the exams are quite awhile away so you could have gone to practice but James, we don't need two practices in a day to win the cup."

"Yes we do! Have you _seen_ the team that Davies has put together? They're incredible. If we don't practice at least once every day then we're going to lose." James said hysterically, Quidditch had always been a big thing for him.

"Now you're exaggerating. We don't need a practice _every_ day to win. That would be as ridiculous as you passing your History of Magic O.W.L." Alice rolled her eyes.

"I'll pass History of Magic just fine, thanks." James said angrily.

"You haven't taken a single note in Binns's class since first year!" Alice cried.

"I can still pass. I'll just borrow yours."

"Oh no you won't. You'll just have to fail."

"Fine! I'll bet you 5 galleons that I'll pass that exam with at least an E without your notes." James said defiantly. "You in?"

"Of course I am." She accepted, staring her best friend down.

"It's on." James said as he shook Alice's hand. He then turned to Roxanne. "Do you know if Molly has her notes from last year?"

* * *

_The summer after fifth year_

"JAMES! YOU'VE GOT YOUR O.W.L RESULTS!" Ginny Potter called from the bottom of the stairs at her eldest son. "GET OUT OF BED!"

In the kitchen, where Albus was reading a book and Lily was eating a bowl of cereal, there stood a tawny owl with a letter in its beak. It looked annoyed at having to wait for the addressee. Ginny was back at the bottom of the stairs as, 5 minutes later, James was still not up.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER! GET DOWN HERE NOW OR ELSE I'LL CONFISCATE YOUR BROOM!" she roared and then retreated back into the kitchen.

Needless to say, a very sleepy looking James Potter was down in the next minute. As he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he got the letter off the bird, which then proceeded to bite him before flying off. James just threw the letter on the table and grabbed a piece of toast off a plate on the table.

"Are you actually going to open it?" Al asked, peering over the top of his book.

"Yeah, once I've eaten." James shrugged. Then he saw his mother's glare (looking very much like his grandmother) and picked up the letter.

**Ordinary Wizarding Level Results**

**Pass Grades: **

**Outstanding (O) **

**Exceeds Expectations (E) **

**Acceptable (A)**

**Fail Grades:**

**Poor (P)**

**Dreadful (D)**

**Troll (T)**

**James Sirius Potter has achieved:**

**Astronomy: A**

**Care of Magical Creatures: E**

**Charms: E**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts: O**

**Divination: D**

**Herbology: E**

**History of Magic: E**

**Potions: O**

**Transfiguration: O**

"YES!" James yelled and threw up the letter in excitement and started doing a victory dance.

Albus picked up his brother's letter and read the results for himself.

"Well he did do well." He said. "Although I'm not sure the dance is necessary." He smiled.

Ginny next looked at the letter. "Well done James. These are excellent; I can see why you're pleased."

"Oh it's not the grades that I'm happy about." James grinned at his Mum and brother. "It's just that I was _right_ and now Alice owes me five galleons!"

And with that, he almost skipped out the room to send a _very_ important letter to his friend while Ginny and Albus stared at him weirdly.

"Ha! She was wrong!"**

* * *

Author's note: Now I'm not too sure about this chapter. I liked the start bit but I felt the bet was a bit random. Ah well. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Reviews are always appreciated so thanks to everyone who has reviewed! It means so much!**

**And just to let everyone know, I've planned (roughly) up to chapter 29 so now that I know what I'm doing, I should get the updates out faster.**

**Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. Remember to vote on the poll! And if you have any requests for specific ideas (or nonspecific ideas, I'm not fussy) that you'd like to see, just tell me and I'll try and work them into the story. Thanks again!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	10. Oliver W, Fred and George W

**Well along with the Marauders, this is the second most voted for option on the poll so I hope you think I did it well. I'm quite excited as these three are my FAVOURITE characters. And not "three out of my 25 favourites", they're actually my top three favourite characters. Sorry, rambling again!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

Oliver Wood, Fred and George Weasley 7th/5th Year (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

* * *

_The sun was shining in the afternoon, not too bright so the glare would distract you from your game but shining enough so you wouldn't be freezing on your broom. The ground was hard as there hadn't been any rain lately, _a good kick off_, Olivier Wood thought to himself as he surveyed the pitch.

A few minutes later, the rest of his team was outside with him. Harry Potter, Fred and George Weasley, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet were standing there.

"Alright men," he started.

"And women." Angelina rolled her eyes as she corrected him for, want seemed like, the millionth time that year.

"Yes, and women. We've got our match against Slytherin in about a month so we need to have a good practice. Let's start with some warm ups." And with that, seven red blurs flew up onto the pitch.

After a gruelling two and a half hour practice, the team were feeling less than friendly towards their obsessed captain.

"You know what, Oliver?" Fred said to his captain as the three walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

"What?"

"You're a bit too obsessed with Quidditch, mate." George told him.

"What? I'm not _too_ obsessed with Quidditch." Olivier spluttered in indignation.

"Yeah, you are." Fred shrugged. "You practically live and breathe the sport."

"You'd probably marry it if you could." George agreed.

"I would not!"

"Yes you would. Now tell us, dear Olivier, when was the last time you went out on a date?" George asked his captain.

"I don't remember. March. Could have been February. Maybe January?" Olivier said truthfully.

"And when was the last time you turned down a date?" Fred asked.

"August I think." Oliver tried to remember. "One of my mum's friend's daughters."

"And why did you turn her down?" George persisted.

"Because I was working on some new Quidditch tactics. Now I have to tell you, there's this one that-"

"And you tell us, that you're not obsessed." Fred shook his head. "Oliver, Oliver, Oliver, what are we going to do with you? Thoughts, George?"

"I don't know Fred, but we better do something about it before he finds himself old and alone, staring at all the Quidditch trophies of the long lost glory days." George said and the twins looked pityingly at Oliver.

"I'm perfectly fine thanks. I don't need any help." Oliver grumbled and he continued on his way.

"Not likely." George scoffed.

"Yeah, I don't think you could last an hour without talking about Quidditch. Let alone a day!" Fred said.

"Agreed." George nodded.

"I could so!" Oliver said defiantly.

Two identical smirks spread over the twins mouths at this.

"Can you now?" Fred asked, grinning wickedly.

"Care to prove it to us?" George's face matched Fred's.

They knew they'd gotten Oliver Wood good and cornered now. There was no way that their captain wouldn't take a chance to prove himself. And besides, all three of them knew that the twins would just tease him more and more if he didn't take up the challenge.

"You're on." Oliver said.

"Right. So if we win, you have to limit your practices to no more than an hour and half, two hours for the two weeks before the game-"George started.

"-no telling people to 'die trying' when playing in bad weather or with rogue bludgers-"

"-You are not allowed to tell us that we aren't committed enough when we get tired fast-"

"And you most certainly are not allowed to sing various victory songs when we win."

"Only if these rules are totally abandoned when we get to the time before the final." Oliver put in.

"Agreed." The twins said, they wanted to win that almost (well maybe not almost, as Oliver was obsessed) as much as their captain.

"And what if I win?" Oliver asked the two.

They sighed. "Well, in the unlikely event that this happens, we will no longer complain about how much practice we have to do."

"And we will try and make sure the team does the same."

"We won't prank any of our own team mates."

"And we will not 'mess around' by pretending to fall off our brooms-"

"No matter how much fun it is."

"It's a deal." Oliver said.

"That it is. Tomorrow you are not allowed to speak a word about Quidditch. And trust me; we'll know if you do." Fred grinned wickedly.

The three shook hands.

"Now, as I was saying before, there is this new move called the-"Oliver was off again on his Quidditch rampage as they continued on their way back to the common room.

"Can't wait for tomorrow." George said.

"Too bad he's not going to last 5 minutes." Fred pointed out.

* * *

_The next day_

It was breakfast time and at the Gryffindor table Oliver Wood was being extremely quiet. His friends had left him alone; they knew about the bet and didn't want to tempt him into talking about Quidditch.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Quidditch team hadn't been informed. It was either Oliver's bad luck, or the Weasley Twins' doing (he strongly suspected the latter) that Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet joined him at breakfast that day.

"Alright there, Oliver?" Angelina asked as she sat on the bench in front of him.

"Yeah, what about you two?"

"We're pretty good." Alicia said.

"So about Quidditch practice yesterday, we were wondering about using that tactic on Slytherin." Angelina started.

"Because we used a similar one last year and they may expect it." Alicia said.

Oliver didn't say anything, although you could tell he was bursting too (_oh this is going to be a long day,_ he thought miserably). Fred and George Weasley, who had conveniently just entered the hall, almost started laughing as they saw Oliver, his face going red with the effort of keeping his mouth shut.

"My my, you don't look that good, do you Oliver?" Fred said as he and George sat down on either side of him. "I'm thinking that you might want to get whatever is on your mind out."

"Yeah, tell us what's bothering you." George agreed.

Oliver ignored them, although he was cursing them in his head, and concentrated on his cereal. The rest of the group started having a regular conversation. Fred and George suspected that it'd be easier to make him break later on in the day.

"Did you hear about Sirius Black, Ange, that he was sighted not too far from here?" George asked.

"Of course I did. Do you reckon he'll try and break into Hogwarts or something?" Angelina replied.

George's answer was cut short as the post arrived. Owls of all different sizes and colours flew around the hall, depositing letters to their owners. One arrived for Oliver Wood in the form of a newspaper.

"Anything interesting?" Alicia asked him as he scanned the front page.

"I don't think so, just a small bit about Sirius Black not being captured- MERLIN'S PANTS!" Oliver yelled as he turned the page. "PUDDLEMERE'S AT THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE! They won their last game against the Tornadoes-"he then quickly shut up at the evil grins Fred and George gave him.

"Didn't even make it through breakfast." Fred shook his head.

"We're disappointed Oliver, very disappointed." George said.

Oliver gulped. This did not turn out the way he had planned.**

* * *

Author's note: Poor Oliver, I just want to give him a massive hug. He makes me laugh though (oh gosh I look like such a retard when I'm laughing at his parts in the books; my family thinks I'm a nutcase but there you are). Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter. I had heaps of fun writing it (but I think that's because I wrote it all in one go and I love the characters).**

**Remember, if you have any ideas that you want done, don't hesitate to ask. I'll try and fit it in somewhere! Next chapter is Lily Evans and one of her friends! Exciting, isn't it?**

**Thanks to you all for the support. It makes me really happy so thanks! Hugs to you all. Thanks for your reviews, they mean so much!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo **


	11. Lily E and Alice P

**Now I have to regret to inform you that I have no idea what Alice Longbottom's maiden name is. I've searched for it everywhere and I can't find it. Some people seem to think that J.K Rowling has never specified what her maiden name is. Others say she's a Prewett, related to Molly. I've also read that J.K Rowling never really decided but was choosing between Prewett and Williams. As I like the idea of her being related to Molly (not closely, like distant cousins or something), her last name will be Prewett for this story. If anyone knows for **_**certain**_** what it is (and I'll need proof) then I'll change it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

Lily Evans and Alice Prewett, 6th Year_

* * *

"He _so_ likes you Alice." A girl with bright red hair and green eyes said to her friend.

"Who does?" Her friend with a round face and bright blue eyes inquired.

"Frank Longbottom. Don't tell me you haven't noticed." Lily Evans said as they sat down at the back of their charms class.

"Really?" Alice Prewett blushed bright beetroot. "You think so?"

"If I didn't know better, Al, I'd say that you have a crush on him." Lily grinned.

"Oh well, not really, I've just never really thought about it before." Alice tried to say nonchalantly, too bad for poor Ms Prewett, it didn't fool Lily for a second.

"Sure you've never thought about it." Lily rolled her eyes at her friends and then proceeded to listen to what Professor Flitwick was saying to the class.

Nothing much exciting happened during this charms lesson. Sure, Crabbe from Slytherin ended up blowing up his own school bag (don't ask anyone how he got into N.E.W.T charms, no one is quite sure). James Potter asked Lily out for the 1st time that day and the Marauders pulled a prank on an unsuspecting Slytherin in their class (ok, he wasn't that unsuspecting, it was Severus Snape, he always expected some form of torment at the hands of the Marauders).

"Anyway, since when did you like Frank? And why haven't I been informed?" Lily grinned at her friend as they walked to the Great Hall for lunch.

"What? I don't like him. Preposterous I tell you, simply preposterous!" Alice lied, her face going beetroot.

"He's so going to ask you out. He's been staring at you in Herbology." Lily informed Alice.

"Pfff...as if! I look like a right mess in Herbology, no boy, especially not Frank Longbottom, is going to be staring at me." Alice said.

"It's your best subject, the one you pay the most attention in, it's a safe way not to get caught staring." Lily shrugged.

"He doesn't like me, you're pulling my leg." Alice said.

"I'm not." Lily assured her. "I'd bet you anything that he asks you out for that Hogsmeade trip next month."

"Never. Going. To. Happen." Alice refused point blank to believe it.

"10 galleons says that he will."Lily said.

"10 galleons says in my dreams."

"Ha! You admitted you liked him!" Lily grinned triumphantly.

Alice's face by this point was completely scarlet. You could have cooked an egg on it with all the heat radiating off it.

"I...that's...no..." Alice attempted feebly.

"Save it, Al, I've known you've liked him for ages." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Um yeah. But back to that bet I was about to win." Alice said,

"I believe you're referring to the bet that I'm going to win." Lily smirked.

"10 galleons then? Or are you afraid you're going to lose, Evans." Alice challenged.

"You're on, Prewett!" Lily said and the two friends shook hands._

* * *

The evening before the Hogsmeade trip_

Just after dinner on the Friday before the Hogsmeade weekend, Alice Prewett, Mary Macdonald and Lily Evans could be found making their way back up to the Gryffindor common room.

"See, I told you so." Alice said to Lily.

"She told you what?" Mary asked.

"I _told_ Lily that Frank Longbottom wouldn't ask me out!" Alice said smugly.

"For a girl that has a crush that hasn't asked her out, you seem pretty happy." Mary observed.

"That's because she _thinks_ she'll be getting 10 galleons." Lily informed Mary. "But she won't be. Frank's still got until we leave tomorrow to ask her out."

"He's cutting it a bit fine, isn't he?" Mary asked.

"Probably nervous, the poor bloke, he's really shy." Lily said. "However, I'm positive Alice will have a date to Hogsmeade tomorrow with a certain Mr Frank Longbottom."

"Oh I hope so." Mary said. "Don't you think they'd make such a cute couple?"

"Not as cute as Lily and James." Alice huffed, her face blushing.

"Oh yes, my heart secretly aches for James Potter." Lily said sarcastically. "P-lease, I can think of a thousand 'cuter couples' than me and Potter."

"I can't." Alice smirked. "Don't you think that they're destined to be, Mary?"

"I'm not sure I should comment." Mary said. "Plus Lily looks like she'd murder me if I said anything like 'why yes Alice, Lily and James are destined to be' which is the truth, still I'd never say it." She smirked.

Lily glared at her friends who were giggling at her.

"I do not and will never like-"she started but then they heard footsteps running up behind them.

The three girls turned around to see none other than Frank Longbottom running up to them. A quite tall, clumsy boy with brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hi Frank." Alice greeted, trying more than anything to stop her face resembling a tomato (as her face was quite round, it was a difficult task).

"Hey." Lily and Mary said.

"Hi." Frank said to the three of them, his face turning slightly pink. "Um...do you mind if I have a word with you Alice?"

"No." Alice almost squeaked and she followed Frank a little way down the corridor. Frank stumbled on the way but caught himself before he hit the floor.

"Um well..." Frank started, his face bright red by this time. He looked like he was so nervous he looked like he wanted nothing more than to turn away from Alice and run in the opposite direction. "There's a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow and I was wondering if...well of course if you haven't already agreed to go with anyone..." Frank trailed off, looking at his feet.

Alice was beaming; her face still the colour of raspberries, but a sudden thought struck her. She was pretty certain what Frank was going to ask and why not save him the nervous break down _and_ get one up on her red haired friend at the same time.

"Frank, would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?" Alice asked him.

Frank looked up at the blushing Alice with wide eyes. "Yes." He said sounded ecstatic and relieved at the same time.

"Awesome." Alice grinned. "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at eleven."

"Cool. See you then." Frank grinned back, his face the same shade of red as Alice's.

Alice walked over to her friends, Mary was grinning happily and Lily was grinning smugly. Although they had been too far away to hear the conversation, they could definitely tell what it was about and, by the beaming Alice walking towards them, the outcome of that conversation.

Alice turned around to check that Frank had left the corridor and then "I'M GOING TO HOGSMEADE WITH FRANK LONGBOTTOM TOMORROW!"

"We guessed." Mary said.

"And I believe someone owes me 10 galleons." Lily smirked.

"Really Lils? Because I don't think so." Alice smirked back.

"What? You're going to Hogsmeade together aren't you?" Lily said, clearly taken aback.

"Oh yes." Alice grinned. "But I believe your words were _'I'd bet you anything that he asks you out for that Hogsmeade trip next month'_, weren't they?"

"Yes." Lily said, still confused as to where this was going.

"Well, _he_ didn't ask me out," Alice started.

"Oh no you didn't." Lily gaped.

"I did." Alice grinned. "I asked him out. Which means you, Lily Evans, owe me 10 galleons."

"Genius Al." Mary congratulated. "A date with Longbottom and 10 galleons to boot!"

"I did think it was a good plan." Alice said as she pocketed the money that Lily had just handed her.

"That was devious. Even so, I'm pretty pleased for you Alice." Lily grinned.

"Now if only you and James were to get together-" Mary started but were interrupted by a shout from behind them.

"HEY LILY! DO YOU WANT TO GO OUT WITH ME?"**

* * *

Author's note: Aw I love Alice and Frank. They're so cute. And awkward, and I love awkward people (I'm one of them). Anyway, I'm sorry about the wait. I do profusely apologise! **

**Thanks for all your reviews! They mean so much to me and I'd love for you to review this chapter.**

**In other news, THE WORLD CUP HAS STARTED! Who's excited? I am! I got up early this morning to watch England and the USA play. Too bad it was a draw. Loved the goal by Gerrard in the first 4 minutes! I'm supporting England by the way. And New Zealand (but they won't do well, it's only our second EVER world cup). **

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	12. James and Albus P II

**This chapter is dedicated to Soccergirl0809 who wanted a James and Albus Potter chapter with the two betting on Rose/Scorpius. I thoroughly hope you enjoy it. **

**Now I'm going to have to put a note about this pairing as it isn't cannon and I said I'd only do cannon. I'm also well aware that there are people who don't like this pairing at all. Now, the main Scorpius Malfoy romantic pairing on fanfiction is Rose/Scorpius (I've checked, so you can't prove me wrong). That includes ALL the next generation characters (Rose, Lily, Albus, James...the LOT) and OC's. Rose is the most by about 800 stories in the K-T rating (there are 1,783 Scorpius Malfoy stories in the romance genre and 1104 are Rose/Scorpius). And as it happens to be my favourite Scorpius pairing (it used to be my only but while making sure Rose/Scorp was the highest I was intrigued by Roxanne/Scorpius so now I like that one too) and is the most popular, I'm using it for this story. Sorry if you don't like that. I'll give you a warning before any Rose/Scorpius chapters and then you can skip them if you really feel the need. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

James Potter and Albus Potter 6th/5th year_

* * *

Once again, the peace and quiet of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was broken by a blazing row in the middle of the Entrance Hall. Even though two people were shouting loudly at each other, no one was shocked. Maybe they were the first, second and possibly even the third time that it had happened. But as it was the 29th time this had happened in the last five years, with the same two people, no one was shocked anymore. The frequency of these arguments made most watchers lose their fun in watching.

In fact, most of Hogwarts just passed a seething Rose Weasley and an irritated Scorpius Malfoy as they made their way into the Great Hall. There were a few however, James and Albus Potter included, that still enjoyed the twos' fights, even if they were getting a bit repetitive after five years of exchanging insults.

"If they didn't fancy the pants off each other then I'm sure they would have killed each other by now." James observed.

"No doubt." Albus agreed. "It's only a matter of time before they realise it."

"And then another matter of time before either of them actually does something about it." James added.

"YOU'RE AN ABSOLUTE GIT MALFOY!" Rose screeched and stormed off up the marble staircase, leaving a dumbstruck, spluttering Scorpius behind her.

"I have to say, I'm disappointed." James said as the two brothers made their way to the Gryffindor table. "I thought she'd have continued for a longer time."

"Maybe, but her anger is wearing thin. She'll realise she likes him soon enough." Al said.

"There's no way that she'll realise it, for a couple of years at least. Did you even listen when Mum and Dad told us about the stories about Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron's romantic life? How stubborn they were? We'll be lucky if they get together before the end of seventh year."

"Rose is a smart girl; there is no way it'll take them that long to get together. I reckon Scorp likes her now-"

"I still can't believe you're friends him." James muttered.

"-and it can't take Rose that much longer." Al continued as though his brother hadn't interrupted as the two sat down together at the table and starting putting food on their plates.

"You're becoming dumber and dumber with age, Alikins." James shook his head and said through a mouthful of Sheppard's pie.

"Think whatever you want. But they'll be together by the end of sixth, no doubt about it." Al shrugged his shoulders.

"No way. It'll be in their seventh year, probably towards the end I'd say." James assured his younger brother.

"You want to put your galleons where your mouth is?" Albus challenged James.

"Oh you bet I do." James smirked wickedly, just like he did when he was about to pull a prank on an unsuspecting victim.

"10 galleons then?" Albus asked, his smirk not quite as wicked as James's.

"10 galleons it is." James agreed.

The brothers shook hands.

* * *

_Seventh Year_

With Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy as Head Girl and Boy respectively this year, it was a wonder that there weren't more and more rows in the Entrance Hall. But, in fact, there hadn't been a row in the Entrance Hall between the two since the year before. A fact that still shocked most of Hogwarts when anyone ever dared mention it. It was almost as if people wished to be woken up by the yells of their Head Students, just to make sure everything was normal. As it should be.

Now, as a seventh year prefect, Albus Potter was allowed to be out of bed until 10 o'clock and was just nipping back from the library where he returned his book on the Voldemort War. It had been tiresome reading about how great his dad was all the time. He was a proud of his dad but it was a bit annoying to hear how great Harry Potter was in every sentence as the book wore on. After reading one chapter he decided the book was absolutely useless and resolved to write to his Aunt Hermione for some information that would help him finish his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay.

He was just walking back to the Gryffindor Tower one night in April, at 9:30, around two month before their N. E. W. Ts started (and James swore that they were the most nerve-wracking experience of his life, well except for a few months later when he had trialled for the Puddlemere United reserve team which had almost given him a panic attack, but that's James and Quidditch for you). All he was doing was hoping to get quickly back to the common room where he could finish his other essay for Herbology.

However, Al just happened to take a short cut through a concealed passageway behind a portrait of an old wizard painting on the fourth floor when he saw something which made him want to groan and cheer at the same time.

Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley were snogging.

Albus could have laughed, but of course he didn't. That would have alerted the two to his presence and although he wasn't technically doing anything wrong, he knew the two well enough to know that he'd get a detention faster than you can say 'that's not fair'.

Quickly and quietly, he turned around and took the longer route up to his dormitory. Slightly disgruntled but nevertheless, quite pleased the idiots had worked out their feelings.

_Maybe,_ Al thought, _maybe I don't have to hand over the money just yet. James won't know about Scorp and Rose until the holidays at least, and they're months away._

Unfortunately this was accompanied by the thought _Godric, how Slytherin of me. That's it; I'll have to send the money right away. James would take the mickey out of me for years if I heard that I'd known for months._

It was the next day that James Potter woke up to his brother's owl tapping at his window. Yawning as he got out of bed, he opened the window and Liam hopped in. James untied the envelope from the bird's leg (who then promptly flew back out the window) and noticed at once that it was heavier than a normal letter.

Opening it, he found there was no letter, or note of any kind. Just 10 galleons that fell out onto the palm of James's hand.

_Oh boy,_ James grinned, _Uncle Ron is going to have a fit._**

* * *

Author's note: Sorry this chapter took awhile to upload, I just got a bit stuck at the start. But after I got going it was good. Thanks for all the reviews, I really do appreciate it. I'd love some more (*hint hint*). Remember, if you haven't voted on the poll, then please do so. Also if you have any ideas that you'd really love for me to write for this story, then just tell me and I'll try and work it into the story.**

**Thanks heaps again, you're all amazing.**

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**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	13. Peter P, James P and Sirius B

**Well it's time for another Marauders chapter**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black, 2__nd__ Year

* * *

_

"Ok, so that's the 14th time in the last two years that Remus has disappeared for a few days." A twelve year old Sirius Black said as he a crossed a day off his calendar on the wall. "I think it's safe to assume that something is wrong."

"That's not necessarily true, Sirius." Peter said. "His mother's sick, deadly sick, he told us."

"Well Pete, that is something that's wrong." James said.

"Yeah but that's it. It seems that Sirius is implying that something else is wrong, that Remus is lying to us. Can you imagine _Remus Lupin_ lying to us?" Peter explained.

"That's true." James said. "The guy sucks at lying, remember that time McGonagall caught us out of bounds near the start of last year? We found out the hard way that he couldn't lie to save his life."

"Come on guys, obviously Remus's 'I'm innocent act' is just that, an act." Sirius sat on his bed and pulled out a chocolate frog. "He's a smart bloke, he'd know how to hide something really big and I reckon he's hiding something, really big."

"But what?" Peter asked sceptically. "If his mother is ill, of course he'll go and visit her often."

"But would he disappear on random days every month of so, it's not like there is a day of the week that he sets himself to go on." Sirius questioned his roommate with raised eyebrows. "He visits her during the school week sometimes; you would think that if his mother _was _ill then he would go in the weekend. You know how much Remus cares about school, it just doesn't make sense that he would go and visit her, which I doubt he does, in the middle of the week."

"And exams." James pointed out. "Don't you remember that he had to miss one last year to visit his mother?"

"I thought that one was because his grandma died?" Peter interjected.

"Of course, he had to think of a better excuse for going away during exam time! Especially since the guy was acting like a madman, studying so much before exams, it doesn't make sense he'd miss one." Sirius said happily, as though this proved that Remus was hiding something. With his excitement he jumped up from where he was sitting and banged into Remus's trunk that was beside the bed next to him (which he had left because it would be stupid to take all of his belongings if he was only going to visit his mother for a few days), the trunk fell sideways and sprung open.

While Sirius yelled curse words as the pain in his leg washed over him (he'd nabbed his leg on the corner, and that always does hurt), James and Peter started picking up Remus's belongings and putting them back into his trunk. After Sirius had finished, he joined them. One book (Remus's trunk was full of them, the reason for someone _wanting _that many books was one that the other boys could never quite understand)had somehow reached the other end of the room and Sirius walked over to retrieve it.

All it took was one look at the cover for everything to clunk into place in this 12 year old's brain.

"Godric, he's a werewolf." He said quietly, still staring at the cover of the book _'Werewolf: A Danger to Society or Just another Wizard?'_

Peter and James looked at their black haired friend incredulously for a few seconds and then simultaneously started laughing. Sirius rolled his eyes at his friends who were finding it hard to breathe as they were laughing so hard.

"I'm perfectly serious." Sirius said.

"Sorry mate, but you seriously think that Remus is a werewolf? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, and that includes all the stuff that that Lovegood kid in fifth year comes up with." James said.

"Agreed," Peter said. "I don't think it's possible for someone as quiet and gentle as Remus to become a wolf once a month."

"Well I'll prove it to you." Sirius snapped and he took the book with him as he marched out of the dormitory, slamming the door shut on his laughing best friends.

Once he got down to the common room he had to think about what to do. How could he prove to James and Peter that Remus _was_ a werewolf? Well he'd need a lunar chart for starters. But who'd have one of those? Who was the best in their year at Astronomy? Some Ravenclaw, probably, he thought bitterly. But who was good at Astronomy that he knew? He heard a laugh from an armchair by the fire and inspiration struck him.

"Oi, Evans!" Sirius called over to Lily Evans who was sitting with her friends by the fire. She'd have a chart, Sirius was sure of it. Everyone knew that Lily Evans was fascinated with Astronomy and was the top Gryffindor for the subject in their year. Apart from Remus but seeing as the boy was a werewolf (_he is,_ Sirius assured himself, _I know he is_) it made sense.

"What do you want, Black?" Lily said rather rudely, but Sirius didn't take offence, pretty much the whole of Gryffindor knew that the two second years didn't get along. It might have been Lily's attention to the upholding of rules and Sirius's determination to break every one of them, or their clashing personalities, whatever it was; they weren't too fond of each other.

"Do you have a lunar chart?" Sirius asked.

"No, why?" Lily asked suspiciously.

Sirius's heart dropped, how was he supposed to prove that his friend was a werewolf if he didn't have this basic piece of evidence.

"Just some research." Sirius said glumly and proceeded to walk away from her.

"I think there's one in the library though." Lily called after him.

"Really?" Sirius asked a manic grin on his face.

"Really, Black." Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"Wicked, thanks Evans." He called as he ran through the common room and out the portrait hole. He _was_ going to get evidence on this and James and Peter were going to eat their words.

* * *

For a few days James and Peter didn't see much of Sirius. He spent his time with a lunar chart from the library, a book on Werewolves and his calendar on his bed in the Gryffindor second years' dormitory. With an emergency supply of chocolate that every twelve year old boy needs, of course.

Remus came back from wherever he was on the second day of Sirius's weird behaviour and questioned James and Peter on it almost immediately.

"What's up with Sirius?" He asked James on the day he got back. Sirius had just had dinner with them and then run off to the library. That in itself was suspicious to Remus; Sirius Black had never set foot in the library _willingly _before now (in fact, Remus remembered having to almost drag him in before exams the previous year).

"Oh, he believes something totally inconceivable is actually possible." James said vaguely. After all, he didn't want Remus getting insulted that Sirius thought him a werewolf.

"He's trying to convince us he's right." Peter shrugged.

"Oh." Remus said, there wasn't really much else to say to that.

* * *

It was just over a fortnight since Sirius had first tried to convince James and Peter that their friend was a werewolf. He himself didn't have any problem with it, except for the fact he was a bit hurt that Remus hadn't trusted them enough to tell them. Well, he'd have to fess up once Sirius questioned him about it.

Sirius had looked at the research, everything made sense. Remus was away only on the days surrounding full moons (Sirius had decided last year to mark every event that happened on his calendar so he would look busy. That included Remus's disappearances, James's trip to the kitchens and Peter's tutoring sessions he'd started at the start of this year). Remus was always was tired in the days leading up to his 'visits', he constantly looked pale, fragile and sick. Not to mention, he always returned with a bruise, cut or other injury that he explained was his vicious cat (not that he'd ever mentioned a cat before these injuries were brought up).

It all made sense.

But that didn't mean he was going to show James and Peter this evidence.

Oh no. He was going to have a bit of fun with two of the Marauders. _That'll teach them for not listening to me_. He laughed. _And for making fun of my idea._

We'll see who's laughing in the end.

* * *

Of course, Sirius had to wait for another full moon before approaching his friends; he didn't want Remus to overhear their conversations.

It was the eve of Remus's latest disappearance and Sirius had his borrowed lunar chart, a book on Werewolves (he'd gotten it out of the library so that Remus didn't know he was on to him), and his calendar with him. He trudged through the Gryffindor common room and, thankfully, saw that Peter and James were nowhere in sight. _They must be in the dormitory_, he thought,_ it makes everything much easier._

He forced a look of defeat onto his face and walked into the dormitory. His two fellow dorm mates were sitting on James's bed playing Wizard Chess, and it appeared that Peter was winning.

"AH HA! CHECK MATE!" Peter declared as James's king threw the crown off his head.

"Well I'm sure I'll win next time." James said.

"I've beaten you 15 times in a row." Peter reminded him.

"It's still possible." James pouted and then noticed Sirius. "Hey mate, what's up?"

"Nothing." Sirius let out a dramatic sigh.

"No luck on your 'Remus is a werewolf theory'?" James said smugly.

Sirius didn't respond.

"He's a werewolf, I know he is." Sirius said determinedly after a few seconds. "One day I'll prove it to you."

"Face it mate, he's not a werewolf." Peter said. "I think we'd have known by now."

"Maybe." Sirius sighed again. "But I still think he is."

"Come off it, there is no way that Remus is a werewolf. We've been trying to tell you this for weeks." James said. "In fact, I'm so sure he's not a werewolf that I'd bet you 30 galleons on it."

"Me too." Peter said as he cleared the chess pieces off the board.

"It's a deal then." Sirius said, an evil grin trying to spread its way onto his face.

"You're on. But I don't feel that it's quite up to the Marauder standards." James pondered.

"Loser has to go to breakfast in his underwear." Sirius suggested.

"Deal." James said. "You in Peter?"

"Definitely, I need to buy a new quill, my old one snapped the other day." Peter said.

"You two are so on."

The three shook hands with one another.

"I hope you like embarrassment." Sirius said wickedly and this time, he couldn't contain the grin that made its way quickly onto his month.

"Pete?" James said worriedly. "Why do I get the feeling we've just walked into a trap?"

"Because that's what exactly what you've done." Sirius said evilly.

"Is it too late to back out?" Peter asked feebly.

Sirius just shook his head.

* * *

"Alright, your evidence is very compelling but I'm not handing over my gold until Remus admits it." James said stubbornly. Peter nodded fervently in agreement.

"Fine, if you can't admit defeat when you see it. We'll just wait and when he gets back in a few days, we'll ask him and then we'll see who's 60 galleons richer." Sirius smirked.

"I think you mean which two will be 30 galleons richer." James said, trying to sound confident but the evidence that Sirius had shown him just seemed way too convincing for the young boy's liking.

"Alright then, we'll ask him when he gets back in a day or two." Sirius said happily and put his evidence back in his trunk. "Anyone else up for pranking Snivellus?"\

* * *

Remus Lupin was tired.

He was tired and ached all over. He really wished nothing more than to go back to his dormitory and sleep for a good sixteen hours, unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. He'd spent the day and night in the hospital wing and was going to try and make it back to his dormitory before his friends woke up. He'd then say he arrived back from his mother's in the night.

It was 5 o'clock in the morning and luckily there were no teachers out as he made his way from the hospital wing to the Gryffindor common room. No one would be up yet, he was sure of it. It was a weekend for Merlin's sake. He knew that James and Sirius didn't get up until at least eight on a weekend, and Peter wouldn't budge before nine. Realistically, he wouldn't have anything to worry about until 7:30 but, being the sensible person that he was, he always left early so no other students would see him and possibly question him about why he was out of the common room. He was a rubbish liar, and he knew it. Merlin knows how Sirius, James and Peter kept swallowing his lies about his mother. Every time he told them about it, he had to work up to it in his mind for ages. Just to make sure it came out convincingly.

"Lacewing Flies." He said to the Fat Lady, and she opened the portrait hole for him, half asleep.

Remus crept across the dark common room, and made his way to the boys' staircase. He crept up the stairs, hoping not to wake anyone and quietly pushed the door open to the second year boys' dormitory. He breathed a sigh of relief as, thankfully, all three of his friends were sleeping. Not bothering to change into his pyjamas, he slipped under the covers of his four-poster bed fully clothed and quickly fell asleep.

Unfortunately for Remus, he certainly wasn't going to get his 16 hours of sleep. In fact, he barely got three. It was 8:15 and he was being shaken awake by none other than Sirius Black.

"Go away Sirius." he mumbled at pulled the covers over his face, as if to block out Sirius and the rest of the Marauders.

"Not a chance, Remus." Sirius said happily and he yanked the covers back off the tired boy.

Remus sat up angrily. "What do you want?" He snapped as he tried to shake himself awake. Well it was supposed to be a snap; it was more like a mumbled sentence. He had a bit of trouble waking up on the mornings after a full moon.

"We just wanted to talk to you." Sirius said innocently.

"But we'll wait until you've woken up properly." James said and gave Sirius a glare.

"No, I think he'll answer more honestly if he's half asleep." Sirius grinned.

"What?" Remus gulped nervously. Surely they didn't know he'd been lying to them? He'd covered his tracks, he was sure of it. There was no way they could have guessed. None at all. _You're just being paranoid Remus_, he tried to reassure himself. _It would have been impossible for them to guess._

"Well Remus, if you'd like to take a seat in the chair." Sirius indicated a chair they'd put in the room, its back to the window and as far from the door as possible. _Perfect_, Remus thought.

"Um, why?" he tried to sound confused but it only came out worriedly.

"We just have a few questions." Peter said and nodded in the direction of the chair. "But take your time answering them."

"Why?" Remus repeated but he sat on the chair nevertheless and faced the three Gryffindor boys.

They were all dressed and staring at Remus. Sirius looked pretty pleased with himself, James and Peter looked a bit grumpy._ Well obviously they hadn't worked it out,_ Remus reassured himself, _if they had they'd be either angry or scared of him. Or both._

"First of all Rem, is there anything you'd like to tell us?" Sirius asked pleasantly.

"Tell you? I don't really know what you mean Sirius." Remus played dumb. He wasn't going to admit anything, especially since he didn't know that's what they were on about. In fact, he was sure it _couldn't _be what they were on about.

"Well we thinking you're hiding something from us." James cut in. "Care to explain?"

"And if it's just that your mother is sick, that's fine too." Peter put in.

"Don't say that Pete." Sirius hissed to the shorter boy.

"Nothing that I can think of." Remus said, hoping none of them were noticing his arms which were shaking.

"Really?" Sirius said. "So if I were to suggest something as _ludicrous_ as the fact that you were secretly a girl, you would tell me the truth, right?"

"Yes. I'm not a girl. Completely male actually, I have been my whole life." Remus assured them. He breathed a sigh of relief, so this wasn't about _that_ thing then. Although he had no idea why Sirius thought he was secretly female, he didn't really care much at the moment. All he cared about was getting out of there, fast.

"So if that's all-"he said, standing up.

"It's not." Peter said glumly.

"What is it then?" Remus asked his voice unnaturally high. Damn, he thought, now they were going to know something was wrong. _Calm down Remus,_ he thought, _you can just play it off as your mother's condition getting worse. Yeah, that'll work. I hope._

Sirius grinned at his response and Remus went, if it were possible, paler than he was before. He indicated the chair and Remus sat down.

"Well Remus, I'd done some studying-"Sirius started. _Oh no_, Remus started thinking,_ he knows, they all know! They're going to tell everyone and I'll have to go home. They'll never want to speak to me again! This is a disaster. I should have never come to Hogwarts in the first place. I should have known that people could work it out. _

"He actually went to the library." Peter said in a disgusted voice.

"Yeah, it was horrific." James agreed.

_So that's what he was doing when I got back after the last full moon,_ Remus thought, _I should have known and tried to put him off! How could I have been so stupid?_

"And anyway, it was after I found one of your books Remus. The title was enough for me to realise everything that had been happening. Are you familiar with this book?" Sirius asked his petrified friend and held up Remus's copy of _'Werewolf: A Danger to Society or Just another Wizard?'_

_They do know._ Remus thought, positively terrified, _this is it. It's the end!_

"Yes. I bought it from Flourish and Blotts in the summer, Professor McGonagall had told me that we might be learning about Werewolves this year, so naturally I wanted to find out more about them." It might have been convincing if he hadn't stumbled over his words and sounded frightened when he said it.

"Really? But why this particular book?" Sirius questioned further.

Remus took a deep breath and tried to control the pitch of his voice. "Because it had had really good reviews. It was in the Daily Prophet one week and I was reading it and-"Sirius cut him off.

"Are you sure there is nothing you'd like to tell us?" Sirius repeated.

"Anything?" James questioned.

"Anything at all?" Peter finished.

"No." Remus said, looking down at his shoes.

"Alright, enough beating around the bush." Sirius said, sounding immensely frustrated at his friend's lack of cooperation. "Remus, one question: are you a werewolf?"

"A werewolf, Sirius? Where on earth would you get that idea? That's the silliest thing in the world! Do you think that Dumbledore would let a werewolf into Hogwarts? That would be ridiculous! And it would cause all sorts of questions at the Ministry. Not to mention-"Remus rambled, quickly and still in a terrified, high pitched voice.

"You didn't answer the question." Sirius pointed out. "A simple yes or no would suffice."

Remus stayed silent. If he said he was then they'd know and if he said no then they'd guess he was lying. They always could tell when that happened. Especially after what happened with McGonagall last year.

"Come on Remus, answer us." Peter said.

"It's not that hard." James put in. "One syllable really."

"Or would you rather we answered for you?" Sirius asked him. "Because we can you know."

"Fine!" Remus said angrily, if they knew anyway, he wasn't going to let them humiliate him for it. "I'm a werewolf ok. Now if you let me leave I'll just pack my trunk and be gone." he said and pushed past his friends and started throwing things pell-mell into his trunk, trying not to let the tears escape that were building up in his eyes. He hadn't even lasted two years. He was going to have to go home now.

"What?" Peter sounded astonished.

"What are you on about Remus?" James expanded.

"Well, obviously," Remus said in a chocked voice as he willed the tears to stay put in his eyes. "You don't want me here. I'm a werewolf, a _monster_, and you're bound to tell the whole school so I'll just make it easier for you and leave."

"Are you mental?" Sirius asked him. "Completely bonkers?"

"What?"

"You don't have to leave, you idiot." James rolled his eyes.

"What?" Remus repeated.

"You're still a person, not a monster." Peter rolled his eyes.

"You thought we'd tell the whole school?" Sirius said in a hurt tone. "We're not heartless Remus. Well not on this occasion." he added at Peter's raised eyebrows.

"You've completely lost me." Remus admitted. "I'm a _monster_, you don't seem to realise that."

"Remus, have you read this book?" Sirius asked, holding up the copy of _'Werewolf: A Danger to Society or Just another Wizard?' _

"Yes." Remus mumbled.

"Merlin Remus, we thought you were the smart one." Peter rolled his eyes. "We're not going to make you leave."

"Or tell anyone for that matter." James shook his head in a disappointed manner at Remus. "You're our friend. We're not going to ditch you because you've got a furry little problem once a month."

"Yeah, what kind of friends would do that?" Sirius asked.

"Normal ones." Remus muttered.

"Don't worry, Remus." Sirius said as the put his arm around Remus's shoulder. "I've got the perfect way to prove to you that we'll be there for you."

"What?"

"Well actually, I have no idea. But I've got something that will cheer you up." Sirius said, grinning evilly at the other two Marauders.

"Oh Merlin." Peter said.

"Oh Merlin is right." James agreed.

"30 galleons if you please, and off you go." Sirius grinned as Peter and James rummaged through their stuff to find enough money.

"I don't have enough, could I get it to you later?" Peter asked.

"Why not Pete, my friend. Just get those robes off and off you go to breakfast." Sirius grinned.

"What is this about?" Remus asked, completely nonplussed.

"Oh, they bet that you weren't a werewolf." Sirius shrugged. "Now come on, we have to get to the Great Hall to see the look on everyone's faces." he grinned.

* * *

_Due to respect for James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, we shall keep their embarrassment to the Great Hall and shall not divulge any details. Although you may contact Sirius Black for photographs._

**

* * *

Author's note: Sorry about the long wait. Although I did say that I'd only update this when inspiration struck. It's my longest chapter for this story (by about 2000 words) and I hope you enjoyed it. And that I portrayed the characters well. I'm sorry if some people didn't like Peter, but this is how I see him. Most people put him as being the odd one out and the one they all picked on but I see that they were all really close, that's why the betrayal hit them so hard.**

**Anyway, thanks for those still reading (as I'm aware it's been over a month) and thanks for all the reviews I've received.**

**Next chapter is Sirius betting with Hestia Jones in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. **

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**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	14. Sirius B and Hestia J

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

* * *

Sirius Black and Hestia Jones (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

* * *

_It was the secret glances, red blushes and stumbling of words (and more often than not, feet) that made Sirius Black's lips curl into a smirk. It was the trips for the Order, the tumbles to the ground and accidental falls in love (which what he was sure it was) that made Sirius almost laugh. He could see it happening right before his eyes. In front of his eyes he was sure of the picture unfolding, he was _sure_ that his best friend and second cousin were falling for each other.

It was just _too_ obvious in his opinion. Remus always had been a rubbish liar. It was that time in first year that started it all off and in over 20 years, the only lie he'd been able to keep successfully was that he was a werewolf. And he'd only managed that for just over a year. It was as sure as the sky was blue; Remus Lupin was the worst liar in history. Sirius had known his friend long enough to know when he liked a girl.

And as for Tonks, she was family and he knew her well enough (even though they'd only been in contact for just over six months) to know when she liked someone too. Blushing whenever in Remus's presence was a good indicator to say the least. Not to mention she tended to trip over things more when she was near him (although Sirius thought he was the only to notice this, _well_, he thought bitterly,_ they all have lives outside this god damn house_).

Obvious. That's what it was.

"They definitely like each other." Sirius muttered under his breath as he watched the two have a conversation before the start of another Order meeting.

"What was that?" Hestia Jones asked from beside him as she pulled her long black hair into a ponytail.

"Remus and Tonks, they like each other." he said as though it was the most obvious thing on earth.

"Are you serious? There's no way that that's true." she rolled her dark brown eyes at the escaped convict.

"But it is!" Sirius said mysteriously. "Have you noticed how much they talk together?"

"They're friends, Sirius, of course they talk. You and Emmeline talk but that doesn't mean that you like each other." Hestia said exasperatedly.

"She always falls over near him." Sirius continued.

"She always falls over." Hestia corrected him.

"She blushes whenever she's near him." Sirius said triumphantly as the two looked over to Tonks. Even Hestia couldn't deny that her cheeks were slightly pink.

"They're sitting by the fire, of course she's hot." Hestia pointed out.

"You just don't believe me, do you?" Sirius questioned.

"Not for a second." Hestia said firmly. "I just can't see it ever happening."

"20 galleons say you're wrong." Sirius smirked.

Hestia looked over at the pair who were talking happily to each other. There was no way they liked each other, Hestia thought, it would be much more obvious if they did. Remus was the worst liar of anyone she'd ever met.

"You're on Black." she smirked back and shook his hand. "But I'm only giving you the gold if I get confirmation from both. And I'm not taking your word for it."

"Fine. You'll soon see. One will ask the other out before you know it." Sirius said confidently.

"You're delusional." she muttered as Dumbledore walked in the room and the meeting started.

* * *

"Come on, Remus." Sirius said as the two cleaned out a spare room just after the Christmas holidays. "You have to admit it."

"I don't have to admit anything, Sirius." Remus said firmly. "Especially since it's _not_ true."

"Your face is going bright pink, mate." Sirius grinned triumphantly. "You're lying."

"I am not!" Remus protested, his cheeks going steadily redder.

"I don't know why you find it so hard to admit that you like Tonks." Sirius shrugged as he pulled a box of who knows what from underneath a bed.

"Tell me Sirius, have you ever liked one of your best friend's second cousins who is _thirteen years_ younger than you?" Remus shot at him.

"Well, no. But that's hardly the-"

"Then you can't speak from experience which means your thoughts are not accurate and therefore not acknowledged." Remus said as he started putting back some of the books they'd deemed 'safe' on the nearly empty bookshelf.

"You're bloody stubborn, you are." Sirius huffed.

"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin, nice to meet you." Remus rolled his eyes.

"If you just asked her out..." Sirius suggested.

"No, Sirius. I have no intention of asking her out because a) I don't like her like that b) I'm way too old for her c) I'm too poor for her d) I'm too _dangerous_ for her and e) she doesn't like me." Remus told his friend.

"You know, all of those reasons are horrible reasons." Sirius said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked him suspiciously.

"A) you do like her b) she doesn't care how old you are c) it doesn't matter how much money someone's got, look at Malfoy and Cissy, loads of money, not that much happiness d) you're a werewolf Remus, that's not a crime, you've got the Wolfsbane, it's perfectly safe and e) she _does _like you."

"You're insane." Remus declared.

"Hi, I'm Sirius Black, nice to meet you." Sirius mocked his friend's voice from before. "Anyway, ask her out."

"No, Sirius. I'm not, under any circumstances, asking her out. I'm perfectly fine on my own!" Remus huffed and made his way out of the room to escape the emotional analysis he was surely going to receive from his best friend.

"YOU WILL, MY FRIEND! YOU'LL CRACK!" Sirius called after him.

Really, Sirius thought, how are they supposed to get together if he doesn't admit his bloody feelings for her?

Then again, he should hardly be surprised at Remus's lack of cooperation. The bloke had never been good with the opposite sex. It wasn't like no girls had liked him, because quite a few did, it was the fact that Remus never wanted to hurt them so he didn't go out with anyone. Sirius, James and Peter had to practically bully him into going out with Anna Boot when she asked him out in fifth year. The three had known Remus liked her but he was too scared she'd figure out his secret and hate him for it. They barely lasted two weeks before Remus broke it off. He was just too bloody stubborn. And noble, Sirius reflected. Only a noble pig would never go out with a girl he loved because he was scared of hurting her.

_Ah well,_ Sirius thought, _I'll just have to work on Tonks._

* * *

"You're barking mad, Sirius Black." Nymphadora Tonks told her cousin over tea one morning at Grimmauld place. Tonks had the day off work and had decided to visit her second cousin who she knew was probably very lonely (especially since Remus was out with work from the Order this week).

"Well yes, but this time I'm perfectly sane." Sirius shrugged as he took a sip of tea from his cup.

"Perfectly sane are not two words I'd use to describe you." Tonks told him frankly. "Imperfectly insane, now those are words that I'd use."

"And your answer to my question is?" Sirius directed her back to the original topic at hand.

"No way, Sirius." Tonks said.

"May I ask why not?"

"You may, but that does not mean you shall receive an answer."

"Come on Dora, _please_." Sirius pleaded.

"No." Tonks said shortly as she got up to put her empty cup of tea in the sink, and promptly fell over as her leg got stuck behind one of the chairs. "Blasted feet." she muttered as she cleaned up the mess with a wave of her wand.

"Why not?" Sirius questioned again.

"Because I _don't_ like him, Sirius." she sighed as she sat back down opposite her cousin.

"Yes you do, it's written all over your bright red face, and hair for that matter." Sirius observed.

"Because he doesn't like _me_." Tonks said.

"What if I told you that you were wrong?" Sirius asked, a glint of mischief, not seen for many years, flickering in his cold grey eyes.

"I'd tell you that you were pulling my leg." Tonks shrugged. "I don't care, Sirius. I'm perfectly fine on my own. Sorry, I have to go and visit Mum and Dad; they made me promise I'd visit them on my next day off." She said and then shrugged on her cloak and made her way out of the kitchen, waving to Sirius on the way out.

"They're _both_ bloody stubborn." He muttered as he threw an ugly glance around the dismal kitchen.

* * *

It was strange to say the least for Nymphadora Tonks to not come into an Order meeting by falling over. It was even stranger without her customary shade of bubblegum pink hair. In fact, if she hadn't opened her mouth to mutter a quick 'hello' to Molly, no one might have known who she was.

Lank, mousey brown hair? No trips or spillages? An upset expression on her usually joyful face? Surely this was not Nymphadora Tonks. In fact, it wasn't remotely like her it all. Hestia would have thought her a Death Eater in disguise if she hadn't at least known that most Death Eaters were smart enough to know about a person before impersonating them. Surely no Death Eater would portray Tonks like this.

This non-Tonks sat down beside Dedalus Diggle and waited patiently for everyone else to arrive. It was safe to say that almost everyone in the room was looking at her, or throwing curious glances in her direction. In fact the only person that wasn't was Remus Lupin, which caused the same people to throw curious glances in _his_ direction too.

Tonks and Remus were on good terms, everyone knew that, they were good friends. They usually sat together in Order meetings and even if they didn't, there would always be a cheery hello. Or, in the case of their last visit, a painful grimace. But as their best friend and cousin had just died, that was to be expected. And anyway Tonks's hair had been pink _then_. It seemed certain to the members of the Order (or the ones that paid attention to Remus and Tonks anyway) that something had gone wrong between the pair. This was further aided by the stares Tonks would give him, and the way Remus would avoid looking at her at all costs.

_Oh no_, Hestia thought as she looked once more between the two, _he was right. That idiot was actually right!_

For it seemed obvious to Hestia that the only way the two would be acting like this would be if they had had an argument. And what had they to argue over? They agreed on most topics and even with those they didn't, they still respected the others opinion. The only other possible explanation would be that they blamed each other that Sirius had died. But of course, this was impossible as they had been on speaking terms last time she had seen them together, and that was after Sirius's death too. It was more likely that they blamed themselves for Sirius's death, as neither were the type to put the blame on someone else.

No, the only logical explanation to Hestia was the two had had a fight over their _feelings_ for one another. To be logical about it, the way Tonks was glaring at Remus, it seemed that she liked him but he didn't like her. Which would mean that she had won the bet after all. However, if you knew Tonks, and after over a year of Order work, Hestia did know Tonks quite well, then you'd know that Tonks would never get this upset because of a rejection. Only the other month she had been telling Hestia about this one guy she'd liked at school who'd rejected her. She'd just jinxed him and walked off. No, if there was one thing that she knew that Tonks hated, it was when someone didn't give someone a good enough _reason_ not to do something. Emmeline had told her of the story where Tonks had dragged her out of bed so they could go on a mission for the Order together, even though Emmeline was feeling a bit under the weather. Tonks had refused to let Emmeline's cold get in the way of what they were going to do.

It seemed all too clear that Remus hadn't provided her with a good enough excuse not to go out with her.

This would bring us back to the fact that he did like her and that he'd made some shoddy excuse.

And this would indicate that now she owed the dead 20 galleons.

**

* * *

Author's note: I don't like it as much as the last chapter, or my Oliver Wood one but it's not my worst (in my opinion anyway, feel free to disagree). I love Remus and Tonks, and hope I've done them justice. As for Hestia, I know some of you will probably be concerned that she worked it out when their weren't that many details but I'd just like to defend this and say she's a smart witch. An exceptionally smart witch who knows both Tonks and Remus from the Order, she knows them well and their personalities. . In my mind, she's very observant but is quick to dismiss things she thinks are improbable. Which is why she doesn't think Remus and Tonks like each other, but does admit it when she notices more. **

**Next chapter is Harry and Draco but I'm not sure when I'll get that out. I've got mock exams in a couple of weeks, then a piano exam, then a trip to Germany and then real exams, so I don't know how much time I'll have to update in the next four months or so. I'll definitely update when I can, but I'll be very busy. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, I really really appreciate them. **

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	15. Draco M and Harry P

**For studentofwords who wanted a Draco and Harry one.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter (Albus Potter's 7th Year)_

* * *

Draco Malfoy was proud man, thank you very much. Although he regretted everything that had happened during the war, he found that his life afterwards was something to be proud of. Slowly, but surely, he'd brought a small amount of respect back to his family's name. He'd dumped that idiot Parkinson and found someone who was smart, witty and who didn't let him walk all over her, something he admired greatly about his wife. So he'd married her and they'd had a son.

Scorpius really was the thing that Draco was most proud of. An eager to learn, ambitious, smart, witty but nevertheless, cunning son was something that Draco was certainly proud to have helped raise. Merlin forbid that he raised his son anything like his father had raised him.

However, right now, Draco wasn't feeling at all pleased with his son. Not that he blamed his son, of course. It was that Weasley girl that he blamed, and in association, that bookworm Granger and the idiot Weasel. Second best in the year was impressive after all, but it's not first. Second best is second best, and his son deserved to be the _best_.

Yes, it was safe to say that Draco Malfoy wasn't in the best of moods as he strode to the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. His son's placing in the school marks added to the fact he was going to have to see Potter. Yes, it wasn't the best morning for Draco Malfoy. However, there was a case he was working on for his job in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and he really did need some notes that Potter had on a criminal the Auror Department had captured.

He walked quickly and purposefully through the Auror headquarters, preferring to get this over and done with quickly. He ignored the people that watched him as he strode past and made his way to Potter's office. Not bothering to knock, he walked into the Head Auror's office. Draco supposed he was lucky that Potter wasn't in the middle of a meeting, but he didn't really care about barging into his childhood enemy's office. It wasn't like he had any respect for Potter.

"Yes Malfoy, just barge into my office without asking." Potter rolled his eyes as he looked up from his work to see the blond haired man enter his office.

"I need the notes on O'Brian." He said in a forced tone, as it always was when he was around the Chosen-One.

"Sure thing," Potter said and he continued writing on the parchment in front of him.

"_Now _please, Potter." Draco said impatiently. "You might have time to spare but I'm rather busy."

Potter just rolled his eyes at Draco and got out of his seat to search in the filing cabinets behind his desk.

"How's the case going?" He asked as he started flicking through the files (there was an anti-summoning jinx placed upon the filing cabinets, extra security, of course).

"Very badly." Draco replied curtly, not bothering to ask how Potter's work was going in return. He didn't care.

"Ah, here they are." Potter said, pulling a folder out of the cabinet. He held them out for Draco to get. Draco walked over to the desk and grabbed them out of Potter's hands. Quickly checking through them to make sure they were in order, Draco was about to leave the office.

"Thank-"He started but his eyes caught sight of the letter, as it was now revealed to be, on Potter's desk. The words _best in the year_ caught his attention and his expression transformed into that of a scowl.

"Bitter, are you?" Potter smirked.

"No, not at all." Draco rearranged his features to appear blank. "I see no reason why Scorpius won't beat her this year."

"Keep dreaming, Malfoy. Rose is the smartest witch I've ever met, apart from her mother."

"We'll just see about that, won't we?"

"Yeah, because she'll be top of the year this year as well as the previous six. Face it Malfoy, your son's just never going to win."

"Think what you want, Potter, but I have faith in my son." Draco said as he turned to leave the office.

"Fifty galleons and that annual interview Skeeter does every July about the Ministry say he doesn't beat her." Potter said as his companion was almost out of the room.

"So let me get this straight, you'll pay me fifty galleons and do that interview without complaining if my son is top of the year, ahead of your niece?" Draco asked as he turned around.

"Sounds about right, and when Rose beats young Scorpius, you pay me fifty galleons and _you_ have to that interview." Potter grinned, sticking out his hand for Draco to shake. "Unless you're too scared."

Draco looked at the hand apprehensively; the interview with Rita Skeeter his Head of Department had been trying to persuade him to do was something he certainly did _not_ want, in fact, he'd love Potter to do it. However, the pain and humiliation of losing to Harry Potter _again_ was not something he wanted to relive. Then again, if he actually _beat_ potter...

"You've got yourself a deal, Potter." Draco said as he shook the hand in front of him, the one that if he'd shaken earlier might have resulted in a completely different life for the Wizarding World.

* * *

_Scorpius,_

_I trust that you have been putting a lot of work into your study and that you are thoroughly prepared for your N .E. W. Ts. I must stress that it is crucial to receive top marks in these examinations. Excellent results at N.E.W.T level will mean that you are able to involve yourself in much higher though of jobs when you leave school._

_I am very proud of you._

_Your Father._

* * *

_That Summer_

It's hard to say who was more nervous about Scorpius's N.E.W.T results, the pale young man himself, or his father. Both woke up early on the day they thought the results would arrive and sat in the dining room together, silently eating their breakfast that had been prepared by Donnie the House Elf. The two stayed in the dining room the whole morning, as they were certain that was where the owl would come. Both read books, the newspaper, anything to get their mind off the results that were making their way towards them. Nothing worked. Astoria came in every half hour or so, even if it was just to check they were still there and roll her brown eyes at their foolishness.

Luckily for all in the Malfoy household, the results came at 11 o'clock on the dot. Both Scorpius and Draco, who had been staring out of the window, jumped up in anticipation as they saw a small black speck making its way, unmistakably, towards their house. It was so slow that the two men just want to grab a broom, met the owl half way and grab the letter from the bird's beak. However, they didn't, they have far too much pride for that.

The windows were wide open and a couple of minutes, although it feels like hours, later the haughty barn owl landed on the dining room table. Scorpius looked at it warily, as if deciding whether or not to take the letter from the bird.

"Come on, son, take it." Draco insisted, quite tired of the waiting. He's never been that patient

"Okay," Scorpius said nervously and made his way towards the bird and pulled the official looking envelope from it.

**Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests Results**

**Pass Grades:**

**Outstanding (O)**

**Exceeds Expectations (E)**

**Acceptable (A)**

**Fail Grades:**

**Poor (P)**

**Dreadful (D)**

**Troll (T)**

**Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy has achieved: **

**Ancient Runes: O**

**Arithmancy: O**

**Charms: O**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts: O**

**Herbology: O**

**Potions: O**

**Transfiguration: E**

"Well?" Draco said impatiently as he watched his son read the results in front of him. "What did you get?"

"Six O's and one E," Scorpius grinned at this father. "You're not disappointed are you?"

"Of course not," Draco said, giving his son a brief hug. "I'm extremely proud of you Scorpius. Couldn't have done it better myself. In fact, I didn't. I'll just go and get your mother." He gave his son a rare smile and left the room to go and fetch his wife.

A little bitter about that one E, for no doubt the Weaslette would get straight O's. But his life wasn't defined by a bet with Potter. His son had achieved, well, _outstanding_ results and nothing, not even Harry bleeding Potter and his bloody niece could ruin that for him.

Still, the letter he received half an hour later did nothing to raise his spirits.

_Straight O's, Malfoy._

_Cough up?_

He contemplated lying. But really, Potter's not worth it.

**

* * *

**

Author's note: Look, I'm really sorry about the _two month_ delay, but I have had other things going on. And I've got exams in 17 days, I think. So I really shouldn't be writing at all. Ah well, I need some down time.

**You probably won't be getting any more updates until the exams are over, but I'm sure that's understandable.**

**However, I'm going to give you, the readers, a choice about the updates on this story. I have a feeling it'll be awhile before I get the next couple of chapters out (summer holidays coming up don't mean I've got unlimited free time, I'll probably be on the computer the same amount as usual) so it's up to you to decide how you want to receive these. Because the timing of writing is going to be a bit on and off, would you rather that I have a few of chapters written and post them every week or so in a couple of months or would you rather have less frequent updates as soon as I finish them. It's up to you. I'm easy either way.**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that has reviewed. It means _so _much to me, you have literally no idea. Thank you so much again. You're all the best.**

**Also, a note to studentofwords, I know originally I was going to make this a Rose/Scorpius one but I felt like I was doing that pairing too much (even though I've only done it once) and felt that since it's not a specifically canon pairing that I wouldn't do it and have this instead. I hope you don't mind. I quite enjoyed writing it.**

**Thanks again guys, you're the best.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	16. Fred and George W II

**Sorry in advance for the angst, I do realise this story is put under humour and friendship but it just happened. I'll explain why at the end of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**

* * *

**_Fred and George Weasley (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)_

* * *

The rain fell quickly down the window of the Burrow, each a tear for someone lost, captured or killed in this seemingly endless war. The one that was really only just beginning. Mrs Weasley was almost always in tears these days, worried for Ron, Harry and Hermione out on their own. She was worried about Ginny in that school; if it were up to her, she wouldn't be there in the first place. Petrified for Arthur at work, for Percy if he never came to his senses before something terrible happened, nervous for Charlie in Romania and those blasted dragons, terrified of Bill and Fleur in their cottage and for the twins in their shop.

There was nothing and no one that could stop her worrying, especially when the rain fell like bullets outside the house and she knew that three of her loved ones where somewhere in the British countryside, most likely with only a tent to keep them warm. She sniffed as she picked up her wand and watched the knitting needles in front of her weave in and out before her eyes.

Mr Weasley was sitting next to her, by the wireless, listening to it but not really hearing it. He just stared blankly at the spot on the mantelpiece in front of him where a picture of the family sat. Mulling their situation over in his mind, Mr Weasley couldn't shake the feeling that not all of them could make it out of here alive. It was improbable, almost impossible, for a family as large as theirs not to have casualties.

"They're not doing great." George said to Fred as the two stood in the doorway to the lounge, watching their two parents who were barely holding it together.

"How can you expect them to?" Fred said heavily. "We're in the middle of the war, we've got a large family, and we don't know where Ron is. For all we know, he could be-"

"Don't say it." George said harshly. He didn't even want to think about the possibility of his younger brother being dead. _He's not_. George thought to himself. _He's _not_ dead, we'd know if he was. He's safe. He's with Harry and Hermione. And they're all fine. They're _not_ dead. _"I can't bare thinking that something has happened to Ron when we're not there."

"Just trying to think realistically." Fred sighed. "We can't possibly make it all out of this."

"You're being an idiot." George told him. "We can and we _will_ all make it out of this. We'll win. Harry will defeat You-Know-Who and that will be that. We _will_ make it out of this." George finished defiantly.

"You're the idiot." Fred said bluntly. "There are 12 of us, if we count Harry, Hermione, Fleur and the Git. It'd take a miracle."

"Then we'll get a miracle. I'd bet my life on it."

"That'd be a bit counterproductive, wouldn't you say? If all of us make it out and you go and kill yourself?" Fred cracked a grin, George joined him.

"We will. We'll make it through."

"50 galleons and you have to wear your Weasley jumper out on your next date?"

"Yeah, alright then."

* * *

The _funeral_

George sat quietly in his seat at the front. He didn't speak, he didn't utter any sound. He didn't even open his mouth. Tears did not form in his brilliant blue eyes, unlike the sobs he could hear from his mother next to him. George didn't do anything to comfort her. He didn't have anything to say, anything to tell her to make her feel better because he couldn't _do this_ he just _couldn't_ do it. He couldn't just sit here and watch the funeral of someone who was supposed to be with him till his death. He couldn't look at the dead body; he just couldn't stand being there.

The priest was saying words that meant nothing to George. "Humour and good spirit" what the hell did that amount to? This priest didn't _know_ Fred; he didn't _understand _George's loss. He just didn't get it.

And with that George got up from his seat, he'd had more than enough, and walked quickly from the room. He marched swiftly to the door, not stopping to look at the people who started at him with tear filled eyes, not pausing to listen to the cries of his mother, his father, his brothers, all telling him to come back. He couldn't do it. He kept walking until he reached the fresh air.

Here, out in the air, he collapsed. He sank to his knees and let the grief wash over him. Not just tears but giant sobs found their way out of his throat and out into the world around him. He wanted to yell, to scream, to just cry and cry until Fred was back with him. He wanted his father to fix this giant hole in his life with a reparo, just like he had with his favourite pair of jeans when he was ten, and then he wanted his mum to scold them for being so stupid in the first place. He wanted that back, he wanted Fred back, he neededhis life back.

George didn't notice the people come out of the Great Hall where the funeral was taking place (all of the funerals were), he didn't notice his brothers standing in front of him, watching him with worry through their own tear filled eyes, he didn't notice his father's arm around his shoulders, trying to comfort him when he knew it was no use. He barely reacted to Charlie and Bill pulling him to his feet and half carrying him out of the grounds. He didn't do anything when they turned on the spot and disapparated him back to the Burrow. They merely deposited him on the couch and kept their arms around him, trying to support him, trying to be strong when they knew George couldn't be.

George didn't, _couldn't_, calm down but neither Bill nor Charlie moved from where they were. They stayed next to their younger brother, a wall of protection. They couldn't lose him too. It wasn't that long after this that George made a movement inside his clock and thrust a bag of galleons to Bill, or Charlie, whoever was on his left, he didn't care.

"Bury it with him." he managed. "It's his. I owe him and tell him...tell him from me that I'll get that jumper out."

* * *

**Author's note: Well I just saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, it was INCREDIBLE, and I was inspired. Of course, Fred doesn't die until part two but I can see the first part of this chapter happening in the first part of the book/film, it just sort of fits in with the fear of the regular wizards in the series that we don't hear about while Harry, Ron and Hermione are off on their journey. **

**I'd originally planned (and started writing) for what this chapter was going to be a Tonks chapter but since this idea came to me I had to write it. Tonks _will_ be next though.**

**I hope you enjoyed this one. Next one might not come for awhile. I'm still in the middle of exams but this just had to be written.**

**Thanks so much for all your reviews and support, sorry that this one is angsty but the next one, I promise, is going to be much more light-hearted. I never really imagined, while writing this, that it would ever get angsty or sad but it sort of just happened.**

**Thanks again!**

**TTFN **

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	17. N Tonks and Jason B

**For Nudge-the-Penguin who wanted a Tonks and a friend about Auror Training.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter.**

_

* * *

Nymphadora Tonks and Jason Bones, 5th year

* * *

_

Nymphadora Tonks, known to everyone as Tonks, sat patiently in a chair outside an office on the second floor corridor. After about five minutes Tonks, who was usually quite a patient person, started to get annoyed. She tugged impatiently on a lock of her curly blonde hair and scrunched up her eyes. In a second, her hair had changed to a short brown haired style.

"It doesn't take that long to talk about what you want to do when you leave school. Stewart Temple has been pouring over those leaflets all week; surely it can't be that hard." Tonks muttered. "Mind you, Temple has never been the brightest candle in the dungeon."

Several minutes later, in which Tonks had changed her hair several more times until it finally ended in a bright pink which she decided she quite liked, Stewart Temple opened the door to Professor Sprout's office. He offered a quick "Hello, good luck." to Tonks and then made his way back to the Transfiguration lesson that was taking place.

"Like I need luck, it's a _Careers Consultation_, there's no luck or skill involved. It's merely a conversation!" Tonks rolled her eyes but nevertheless walked into the office she'd been waiting outside for the past ten minutes or so.

"Miss Tonks, please have a seat." Professor Sprout said as Tonks entered the room.

It wasn't a foreign room to Tonks, oh no, she'd been in here many times. Whether it be for smart-mouthing a teacher or pulling a prank on someone, Tonks had become quite familiar with this small space. Not that it was hard to recognise once you were inside. It reminded Tonks of her father's office at home. Papers, folders, the odd plant and other assorted objects scattered around the place in a haphazard manner. It was extremely messy but that's what Tonks liked about it, she knew that Professor Sprout never tried to be anyone other than herself, she was simply a messy person and her office reflected that.

"Wotcher, Professor." Tonks grinned as she slipped into the seat in front of her head of house.

"Well have you given any thought about what you would like to do outside Hogwarts?"

"I'd really like to be an Auror." Tonks said confidently. An Auror was all Tonks could ever remember wanting to be. Ever since her mother had confided in her about her side of the family, about her sister Bellatrix and cousins Sirius and Regulus, all of whom were Death Eaters, Tonks had wanted to make a difference, she'd wanted to help the wizarding community by repaying them for her family's mistakes.

"Alright Miss Tonks but I'll have you know that to become an Auror it requires very high marks. You need at least-"Sprout started but Tonks cut her off.

"Five N. E. W. Ts and nothing under Exceeds Expectations. They recommend Defence Against the Dark Arts, naturally, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and Herbology." Tonks recited. As she had wanted to be an Auror for the longest time, it was only natural that she knew what was required.

"Yes, that is correct. I can tell you know that you are averaging an E with me, so Herbology should be no problem, a little extra work and I wouldn't be surprised to see you receive an Outstanding. Both Professors Snape and McGonagall have averaged you at an O which is extraordinarily good. You constantly receive high marks for Defence so that shouldn't be a problem. Your only trouble could be Charms. It seems that Professor Flitwick is averaging you at an 'Acceptable' but nothing some good hard revision shouldn't be able to fix."

"That's good, thanks Professor." Tonks grinned. A little more work in Charms shouldn't be too hard, and anyway, her friend Jason was averaging an Outstanding there but needed help in Potions, they could easily help each other.

"That's alright Miss Tonks. Now off you go, you don't want to be late for Potions, I'm sure Professor Snape wouldn't hesitate to put you in Detention." She smiled underneath her heavily patched hat.

"Very true, Professor. See you later." Tonks said and walked out of the office.

As she walked outside she saw Peter Williamson biting his nails nervously in the chair Tonks had occupied about 10 minutes previously.

"It's pretty tough in there." she lied. "I hope you're ready."

Williamson's eyes widened in horror and Tonks smirked to herself. _Serves him right for making fun of Jessica Macmillan behind her back yesterday_, Tonks thought as she made her way down to the dismal dungeons.

"An _Auror_, Tonks?" Jason asked incredulously as Tonks slid into the seat next to him in Potions. "Really? Do you have a death wish?"

"It's not a big deal, Jason." Tonks rolled her eyes. "I've wanted to be an Auror since I was a kid."

"You're mad, Tonks. Why on earth would you want a job with the mortality rate so high? And besides, you know you have to take loads of tests after Hogwarts. How on earth are you going to pass Stealth and Tracking?" he asked her.

Tonks blushed bright red and her hair changed to match.

"10 points from Hufflepuff," Professor Snape's snide voice came from the other side of the Dungeon, "for Miss Tonks's inappropriate morphing."

Tonks wished she could retort but with a look from Jason, she decided against it. It wasn't worth losing more points over. She sighed and peered up at the instructions on the board for the potion they were making that day, an ageing potion.

"So how are you going to do it? Pass Stealth and Tracking, I mean?" Jason said while the two were getting ingredients from the store cupboard.

"I don't know, Jase, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I mean, I'm not _that_ clumsy." Tonks said as she rolled her eyes.

"Tonks, you manage to trip over anything that is in your way and break anything you touch."

"That is so not t-"she said and promptly dropped the bottle of Armadillo Bile and it smashed all over the floor. And, while trying to pick it up, she tripped over a large fragment of glass.

Jason offered her a hand and she took it as Snape came billowing towards them.

"Wasting classroom ingredients, Miss Tonks," Snape shook his head in a disappointed manner, still keeping a trademark sneer on his sallow face, "20 more points from Hufflepuff. _Scourgify_." He said and the mess was cleaned up.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I mean, if it was for something important I would be careful not to stuff up, wouldn't I?" Tonks said to Jason as they began their Potions.

"Whatever you say, Tonks." he said, pouring the bile into his potion so it hissed and turned a murky green colour, quite opposite to the pale blue it was supposed to be.

"You don't think I'll pass, do you?" Tonks said accusatorily.

"Would it be unfriend-like to say no?" he asked.

"I suppose it'd just be your honest, but wrong, opinion on the matter." Tonks shrugged. "But I bet you 30 galleons that I'll pass it on my first try."

"30 galleons? You're so on Tonks." Jason grinned.

* * *

_Several years later_

The one good thing that could be said about Auror tests is that, if it wasn't a theory exam (and few were), the witch or wizard would get their results straight away. This was especially good for those who are impatient, but really, everyone is impatient when waiting for results to things.

"Alright Miss Tonks." Scrimgeour said. "Although you nearly gave everything away with that trip, you've passed. Just barely, but you've passed."

"Really?" Tonks looked at him, as though waiting for him to shout 'Just kidding, you failed' but he didn't. He just nodded. "You're deadly serious? You're not just pulling my leg?"

"No I'm not pulling your leg. You've passed. Congratulations Auror Tonks." He gave her a rare smile which made him look even more like a lion. "Your first day of official Auror work starts at 8 o'clock on Monday. Please report to my office as soon as you get to the Ministry. You're free to go."

"Thank you!" Tonks almost squealed, she left the room grinning at any rate. She couldn't wait to tell her Mum, Dad, Jessica, Jason...That's right, Jason. He did owe her a certain amount of money if she was not mistaken. However, she really did think that she should tell her Mum and Dad first.

She disapparated out of the Ministry almost at once and made her way to the house on the outskirts of London where her parents lived (but stopped by the sweet shop to pick up some chocolate frogs, they were her weakness and she decided she deserved them). When she got there, however, she was surprised to see a lot of people waiting for her. A big banner was attached to the outside wall of the house and read 'Congratulations, Auror Tonks.' There were tables laid out with food and drinks, someone had a wireless out and had turned it to a music station and a load of balloons littered the front lawn. Tonks grinned as she walked towards all the people waiting for her.

There was her Mum and Dad, obviously, who rushed forward to congratulate her (they filled her in later that Kingsley, an Auror a bit higher up than her, had sent word to her parents immediately after he'd found out that she had passed. They had of course, already planned the party but were going to get rid of it if Kingsley sent word that she hadn't passed). There was Jessica, Ashley, Penelope, her old dorm mates. There was Peter, Stewart, Oliver and Harold who were the other Hufflepuffs. Her neighbours, her grandparents on her dad's side, some mates from Auror training, a couple of other friends from Hogwarts, she even thought she spotted Charlie Weasley's red mane of hair as she went to pour herself a drink.

And then, while she was pouring that drink, she felt a tap on the shoulder. Turning around she came face to face with none other than Jason Bones. She smirked up at him, one had on her hip.

"Well here you are then." He grinned, departing the gold from his hand into Tonks's. "You were right, you passed Stealth and Tracking on your first try. But not that the money matters. You're now an Auror, congratulations." he hugged her.

"Thanks." she grinned as she pulled away. "Even if _some people_ had no faith in me. I knew I could do it."

"That you could." Jason beamed. "Who are these stupid people anyway? Want me to talk to them for you?"

"Nah, I think it's alright." she smiled. Nothing much really mattered at this point; she had just passed the test to her _dream _job.

**

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Author's note: Not too sure about this one but I hope you liked it anyway. Next chapter I am hoping it to be a Marauders one, as they very much ahead in the votes.

**Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews and, if you have the time (or have **_**favourited**_** the story, I mean, if you like it enough to favourite it, surely you can spare two seconds to review) could you please review? Thanks so much.**

**I'm going away in a just over a week so I might not be able to get any more chapters out before Christmas. I'm extremely sorry and if that's so then: Merry Christmas and have a very happy new year.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	18. Peter P and Remus L

**Merry Christmas to everyone. **

**Just a quick Marauder Christmas chapter for you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the song 'God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs' which is first mentioned Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the words I used are taken from MuggleNet and belong to someone else. **

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Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin_, _2nd Year

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_

For the Marauders' second Christmas, they had decided as a group to stay at Hogwarts. They had decided this for various reasons. The first and foremost being that the full moon had fallen two days after Christmas and it was easier for Remus's parents if he was at Hogwarts where he could stay in the Whomping Willow (Remus didn't mind, well not _too_ much, because it wasn't a pleasant thing for his parents to have to go through, it was easier to be at Hogwarts where Madam Pomfrey could patch him up after his transformations). Second, Sirius was no longer welcome at his home for Christmas ("Not that I'd want to stay with those pureblood supremacist bastards anyway." Sirius had said darkly). As well as these two things, Peter's parents were going to Spain so he was staying at Hogwarts anyway (regardless whether the others were or not). Nothing was keeping James at Hogwarts, but since his other friends were staying, he felt he should as well. In fact, he would have offered that they came over to his place for the holidays but with Remus's condition, it just wasn't possible (not that James minded, he was just going to do what was best for everyone else).

So, with all of these reasons piled together, the Marauders were some of the few students that remained in the castle for the Christmas break.

Thankfully for this quartet, they had been able to do some Christmas shopping in Hogsmeade, despite not being in third year yet. They, of course, knew all the secret passageways out of the school and felt no shame in using them to get presents for each other, and their family. It was the season of giving after all and how on earth were they supposed to give if they didn't have any opportunity to get what they needed to give? Well that was their excuse for a trip to the village.

Not that it really matters; it was long past the Hogsmeade trip now. In fact, these very same four boys could be found on Christmas Eve in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, roasting marshmallows and plotting ways to get Snape expelled. They had tried a few, but unfortunately none of them had actually worked.

"What about if we sent Dumbledore a present from Snape but it's really a giant tarantula. Then he'll get kicked out, or at the least get a bunch of detentions." Sirius said through a mouthful of sticky pink goo.

"Sirius, you do know that that's disgusting." Remus said as he wrinkled his nose.

"Yeah, your point?" he said, putting a few more marshmallows on his roasting stick. Remus just rolled his eyes.

"I don't think that would work," James said after what seemed like a few moments careful consideration, "because where on earth are we supposed to get our hands on a giant tarantula before tomorrow?"

"Ask Hagrid?" Peter shrugged. "He's bound to have one."

"Probably takes it for a walk around the forest every day." Sirius chuckled.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did." Remus grinned.

"Whatever, I don't think we'll get one." James said. "Although it would be one of the funniest things ever. Imagine the looks on everyone's faces."

"Imagine _McGonagall's _face." Sirius laughed and was soon joined by the rest of the group.

"I'd be worth getting hold of a tarantula just to see her face." James grinned once their laughter had subsided.

"Definitely," Peter agreed, "taking a picture of it would be great too. Can you imagine the hilarity it would have for future generations?"

"Ok, since we can't do it this year, can we send one to McGonagall next year?" Sirius asked gleefully. "That gives us a whole year to find a tarantula."

"Although it would be hilarious, I don't really think it would be the best idea. We don't want to petrify her." Remus said.

"Why not?" Peter asked curiously.

"She does hold authority over us for the next 5 years, I for one would rather spend my time out of detention than in." Remus explained.

"Good point, Remus old chum." Sirius nodded in understanding. "Anyway, what are we doing talking about _Snape_ and _McGonagall_ on Christmas Eve? We should be singing Christmas songs and getting into the jolly spirit! _GOD REST YE, MERRY HIPPOGRIFFS, LET NOTHING YOU DISMAY-_"

Unfortunately for Sirius, but fortunately for everyone else's eardrums, Remus cut across him.

"Oh shut up, Sirius. We'd all rather our ears didn't _bleed_ to death." Remus said.

"What? My singing is fabulous!" Sirius said with a frown on his 13 year old face.

"Yeah, no." James told him frankly and Peter nodded his head in agreement.

"Well fine then, I guess none of you are getting any Christmas presents then." Sirius said and dramatically made his way up the boys' staircase to their dormitory.

Although the rest of the Marauders knew not to take him seriously, James still ran after him yelling.

"What? You can't do that! What did you get me? If it's something good, please don't. Your singing is _fabulous_, the best I've ever heard!"

This left Remus and Peter in the common room together.

"What do you think Sirius actually did get James?" Peter asked Remus as the two got up and reluctantly followed their friends up the stairs.

"Sirius get James? Something to do with pranking." Remus said.

"Really? Five knuts say it's sweets." Peter said.

"Done." The werewolf said, shaking his friend's hand.

* * *

_The next day, Christmas day_

Being Christmas, all the occupants of the boys' second year dormitory were up and ready to open presents extremely early in the morning. Six thirty was the time of wake up, and even Peter, who was usually never seen out of bed before nine on non-school days, was up and ready to open presents.

They took turns opening presents, one present and then the next person would open one present, and then- well, you get the idea.

The first round of presents had seen the Marauders open presents from Remus (and Remus had opened one from his Grandparents). Peter had received a new quill (after snapping his new one in a disaster in Transfiguration, he had badly needed a new one); James had received the book 'Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland'; and Sirius had received a nose-biting tea cup from Zonko's that Remus had seen him looking at during their last visit.

"Yes, this will just be perfect to use on my darling mother." Sirius grinned evilly, looking more closely at the tea cup in his hands.

"Alright Sirius, time for the presents from you." James said impatiently as Sirius continued to think up ways to use his new present to annoy his family.

"Alright, alright, keep your hair on. Can't see why you'd want to, with the horrid mess it is, but you know." Sirius grinned and quickly handed James a present before James could punch him.

Remus and Peter looked over eagerly, waiting closely as James slowly pealed the spellotape off the coloured wrapping. He took his time unfolding the parts of the wrapping that had been folded.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, James, could you pick up the speed a little bit?" Sirius asked in an annoyed voice.

James just grinned and continued at his glacial pace. About a minute later, James had finally, _finally_ opened the present to reveal...a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans _and_ a bag of hiccoughing sweets.

Peter turned to Remus.

"So we're even?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'd say neither of us won."

"Or we both won, if you want to be optimistic about it." Peter pointed out.

"True." Remus shrugged.

Needless to say, their small bet was forgotten several minutes when James thought a pillow fight would be a great idea.

**

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Author's note: Not too sure about the ending, but there you are. It's almost the end of Christmas here (in one hour and 16 minutes) but I really do hope that you are having/have had a spectacular Christmas.

**I now won't be updating till late Jan/early Feb as I'm actually on holiday (and should really be upstairs socialising with my family rather than down here writing fanfiction so I'm actually going to make an effort after today) and don't get back until then. **

**Merry Christmas again and have a very happy new year. You've all been amazing this year and I really look forward to writing more of this in the next year. On the topic of this, there's a new poll on my profile about how many chapters you think this fic should be. I really hope you take the time voting. Thank you so much for your reviews. You're all amazing. For reading, reviewing, favouriting...everything. Thanks so much. **

**TTFN (for the last time this year)**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	19. James P, Sirius B, Remus L and Peter P

**Happy New Year.**

**I realise I wasn't supposed to update until late January but I've found that I've had lots of spare time and not much to do while I'm on holiday (although did, finally, finish reading The Chronicles of Narnia which were just fantastic) so I've actually written quite a lot for this story (although the same can't be said for my other one). So here is an update early for you.**

**ATTENTION: Please vote on the poll on my profile, I really need to know how long you all want this story to be (I need a cut-off point so that I know when the end of the story will be and which bet to put in the last chapter). **

**Another Marauders chapter, as it is the most popular option on my previous poll and of course, who doesn't love the Marauders? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

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James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, 7__th__ Year_

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"If _you_ broke up with _her_, then why are you so miserable?"

"I didn't _want_ to break up with her."

"Then why did you do it, you complete imbecile?"

"Because I had to."

"Why?"

"You know why!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Remus, being a werewolf isn't a bloody crime!"

"Who knows, in a few years it may very well be and then it'll just be easier for everyone. They might even have werewolf executions for all we know."

"Alright mate, just shut up. You're being fucking stupid." Sirius said harshly, staring at his friend who looked pretty miserable, but quite frankly, Sirius wasn't going to take any crap from him.

It was one Saturday evening in mid December that these two boys, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, could be found in the Gryffindor seventh year boys' dormitory. Sirius was standing at the foot of Remus's bed, looking extremely frustrated and Remus was sitting on his bed with a big block of Honeydukes finest chocolate. He looked completely miserable; a sad, hopeless expression showed on his sickly pale face as he broke off a rather large piece of chocolate.

Remus didn't respond to Sirius's comment, he just sat there and continued to eat the chocolate, as if it was going to solve his problems. For those who knew Remus, they knew that he thought that chocolate could pretty much solve anything. Sirius just didn't know how to tell him that chocolate wasn't really going to help much in this instance.

"Look, Moony, you didn't have to break up with Emma, there is no _good_ reason for why you broke up." Sirius told him softly.

"Yes I did have to break up with her, Sirius." Remus said glumly.

"Why?" Sirius challenged.

"Because I'm a _werewolf_, Sirius. Do you know what people think of werewolves? It's a bloody miracle that I'm allowed at Hogwarts. I know that you, Prongs and Wormtail are fine with it but the world isn't quite as accepting as you three."

"I'm failing to see the point in that dramatic piece of speech; the reason you broke up with Emma is?"

"I can't go out with her; she doesn't deserve some half-breed monster. It's better to break things off now, before she cares too much and then gets hurt when she finds out what I really am." Remus said miserably, helping himself to another piece of chocolate.

"And what _are_ you, Remus?" Sirius said. "You're a seventeen year old guy who reads too much, has a chocolate addiction, and is a generally kind, funny and hardworking bloke. I fail to see _why_ she would care that you aren't quite yourself for one day a month. For 353 days of the year, you are a regular, if slightly abnormal, person."

"You just don't understand." Remus said sadly.

"What don't I understand?" Sirius asked harshly, he sick and tired of Remus constantly beating himself up about something he couldn't control.

"You've never seen how other people treat werewolves. We're scum on the bottom of their shoes, society in general hates werewolves. It's true that most of it is out of fear, but it doesn't matter because we're not fully human so we aren't given the same rights as 'pure' humans. You've never seen anyone else be told of my affliction. You don't know what it's like. None of my parents' friends acknowledge me when I see them; my own family (excluding my parents) only have minimal contact. My own cousin _refuses_ to come to any family gatherings I'm invited to. Almost everyone in our society hates my kind and Emma would hate me too if I told her about it." Remus told Sirius bluntly.

"You don't know that." Sirius said, trying to sound hopefully but he was taken aback by what Remus had said. He knew, of course he did, about the prejudice surrounding werewolves, but it had never really hit him this hard; he'd never really _fully_ understood it (he probably still didn't).

"Yes, I do." Remus said bluntly. "I've suffered this prejudice almost my whole life, I am completely certain that Emma would react just the same as everyone else."

"Remus, mate, you really don't know. We didn't treat you any differently, except a couple of jokes here and there about your 'time of the month', how do you know that Emma isn't like that?" Sirius said, trying to evoke some hope into his friend.

"Nope. It doesn't matter; I can't allow myself to like her more than I already do. It'll just be harder if I post-pone the eventual break up. I don't deserve to be with anyone, it's better to just be alone from the start. I don't know why I even went out with her in the first place." Remus said.

"Uh, because you're a regular teenage bloke who really likes a girl?" Sirius said. "Come on, mate. Just because you're a werewolf doesn't mean you can't date someone."

Remus just shook his head pityingly at Sirius. It wasn't Sirius's fault he'd never understand what it was like to be a werewolf, to be shunned from society. Remus knew he could never really go out with anyone. Not that anyone would want to go out with a werewolf, the only two girlfriends he had (Anna Boot in fifth year and now Emma Fitzgerald) hadn't known about his condition and that was the way Remus planned to keep it, it was also the reason he broke up with both of them, despite not wanting to.

"Hey! We've been looking all over for you guys." Peter said as he and James, the rest of the Marauders, entered the room.

The two boys stopped on seeing the scene in front of them. Sirius was still standing in front of Remus's bed, still looking quite frustrated but there was sadness in his eyes this time. Remus was also still on his bed, but there were now chocolate wrappings in front of him.

"What's wrong?" James said immediately, looking from the frustrated Sirius to the hopeless looking Remus.

Sirius turned to James and gave him a 'please help, he's in a mood about being a werewolf' look which was really just a 'help' look but James understood all the same.

"He broke up with Emma." Sirius told the other two.

"What? Why?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, Moony, you really liked her." James added. "Why would you break up with her?"

Remus just sent them a 'you know why' look and opened the draw in the bedside table beside him and pulled himself out another block of chocolate.

"Ok, mate, chocolate is not going to help. _Accio Chocolate._" James pointed his wand and the chocolate came whizzing towards him.

"How do you know?" Remus challenged, looking at James angrily. "I feel like shit and I'd like the chocolate, thanks."

"Then why'd you break up with her?" James asked stubbornly.

"Please, let it go, I've already had this entire conversation with Sirius." Remus said more calmly. He didn't need to have this conversation again, because James and Peter would say the same thing as Sirius did.

"Is it because of you being a werewolf?" Peter, ever the tactful one, asked.

Remus didn't respond, but Sirius nodded for him.

"Don't be an idiot, Remus. Being a werewolf shouldn't stop you from going out with-"James started.

"Look, I've had the exact conversation with Sirius; I'm not having it again." Remus said tiredly.

"Fine. But I want you to know that you shouldn't turn down possibilities to be with someone you really do like. Because there will be a time, Remus Lupin, when we shall laugh because you will have fallen in love with someone and you'll end up marrying them."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Never going to happen, Prongs, my kind don't marry."

"Yeah, but you're a Marauder, we're not exactly the type to stick to the rules." Sirius pointed out.

"Whatever, it's not going to happen because I wouldn't let it."

"Bloody hell, Remus, you're so stubborn." Peter said. "I bet you do end up marrying some closet bookworm just like you and you'll have intelligent discussions about literature and politics. She'll be clever and have a wicked sense of humour and she'll have a moral conscience too."

"Nah, he wouldn't marry someone who was exactly the same as him." Sirius told Peter. "He's more likely to marry someone who's the complete opposite, that way he has something different that will make him cave on his whole 'I'm a werewolf so I can't be with anyone' policy he's got going on. She'll be immature, disorganised, but she'll be able to _lie_." Sirius grinned. "Her best subject will be potions, and she'll actually be able to cook something without burning it. She'll be loud around people she doesn't know, but the quiet one among her friends."

"You're both completely wrong. She'll be a bit out-there but she'll be intelligent and incredibly funny. Of course, she'll be hard-working and enthusiastic about everything, it'll be infectious and that's how Remus will get over the whole 'I'm can't date anyone, I'm too dangerous, werewolves don't deserve love' thing. She'll just be a bubbly person. She won't be a bookworm but she will be some sort of practical joker sometime in her life but she won't be as skilled as the Marauders."

"Who is?" Peter and Sirius asked.

"Well, just so you know," Remus said, a small smile on his face at their predictions (which was the aim of the whole thing), "you're all wrong. Because there isn't going to be anyone I marry. I'm going to die a slow and painful death alone and people aren't going to find me for days because everyone will be off and happy with their own happy lives. They won't realise I'm not there, and when they do find me I'll have a book in one hand, and a block of chocolate in the other."

"Well, aren't you morbid?" James said.

"No, I can see it. I always knew he'd die by some sort of book related incident." Sirius said.

"It wouldn't be a book related incident, the book was just there."

"Then how can you prove it wasn't the book?" Sirius smirked and Remus rolled his eyes again. "Anyway, I'm sticking with my immature, lying, cook."

"I'll be sticking with my clever, witty, book worm."Peter shrugged.

"And I'm sticking with my enthusiastic, bubbly, comedian." James said.

"Because I'm right, I'll be sticking with my _no one_ theory."

"Well if we're all so sure about it, I say we make this interesting." Sirius grinned.

"A bet, perhaps?" Peter grinned too.

"Most definitely, Wormtail, Padfoot." James smiled, "10 galleons and being the godfather of Remus's first child?"

"I'm _not_ having children." Remus told them in a firm voice.

"You say that now, but 20 years down the track you might have a few little Remus juniors running around." James grinned at him.

"So is this bet on?" Peter asked the group.

"I'm in." Sirius said once.

"Me too." James agreed.

There was a silence before Remus said anything.

"Only if you agree to stop bugging me about breaking up with Emma and let me mope with my chocolate in peace."

"Done." The three said automatically.

"Alright then, I suppose I'm in." Remus said, somewhat grudgingly but there was still a small smile that he couldn't stop forming on his sickly face.

"It's a bet then."

* * *

_Sometime in July 1996_

Remus Lupin looked over at the woman lying in bed next to him in the early morning of what was sure to be a hot July day. To be perfectly honest, the feeling of being _married_ was completely surreal to him. Who would have wanted to marry him? In the past, he would have dismissed this as _no one_, because truly, no one should have. He was a _werewolf _for Merlin's sake. He was still convinced that Tonks would realise she hadn't wanted to marry him and he was waiting for the day when she realised he was too poor, old and dangerous for her and left him. She was completely insane to do it, to marry him.

Even though he was sure that he did love Dora, there was a sense of guilt in him for caving so easily. He shouldn't have married her, he really shouldn't have. He raked a hand through his greying hair in frustration. He knew, he really did know in his logical brain that he never should have gone out with her in the first place, but for once, his heart outweighed his head. And anyway, there was no turning back now, the small golden band on his left hand proved that, for better or for worse.

A small rustling movement next to him made Remus turn his head again to look at his wife (his _wife_) who had merely rolled over in her sleep, her long brown hair (in its natural state) flowing out behind her. She was completely and utterly, _barking mad_ to have married him, Remus was sure there would have been plenty of other men that would have dated her (probably married her too) and he was still confused on why she chose him. She was bubbly, intelligent, witty, beautiful, enthusiastic...she shouldn't have settled for him.

At his thoughts, a memory came to his mind.

"_And I'm sticking with my enthusiastic, bubbly, comedian."_

The bet. He hadn't thought of it in years, _years_. But there it was, they'd all bet 10 galleons (and the privilege of being the godfather to his first child, it was a good thing that he wasn't going to have children) on the type of girl he was going to marry.

He looked again from the sleeping form of Dora to the golden ring on his left hand and smiled to himself in the dim light of the sun rising through the curtains in their bedroom.

_Looks like you were right, James. I'm sorry that I don't have the money for you but when I do, I'll give it to Harry instead. I promise._

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Author's note: Again, not sure about the ending but I hope you liked it. This year I will get better at updates, so I should hopefully have the next chapter out soon. Thanks for all your reviews; they really mean the world to me.

**Happy New Year again.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	20. Dean T and Seamus F

**Dedicated to my mum, as it is her birthday tomorrow and for the fact she has to put up with my obsessive tendencies (Harry Potter, Glee, Narnia...etc). She's just the best mum in the world. **

**Inspiration for this one struck but it's just a little short one, nothing too special but I think we need small ones every now and again. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

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Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, 1__st__ year_

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"Now, how _did_ you catch fire to your feather?" Dean Thomas asked his newly found best friend as they exited the Charms classroom on Halloween morning.

"I have no idea." Seamus Finnigan reflected. "I don't think the spell to catch things on fire is anything like the levitation spell."

"No, I don't think so either. I guess you're just..." Dean searched for the right word.

"Talented." Seamus put in helpfully.

Dean laughed. "Yeah, maybe."

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," a voice said a few metres ahead of them, Ron Weasley was talking to Harry Potter, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Dean and Seamus watched as Hermione Granger pushed past Harry and Ron, putting her head down so the people around her couldn't see her face.

"I think she heard you." Harry said to Ron.

"So? She must have noticed she's got no friends." Ron said, although he looked a bit uneasy.

Dean and Seamus looked at each other. Neither of them particularly liked Hermione, and they'd said similar things to each other about her, but there was something different about her hearing what Ron had said, knowing they'd said it too and knowing Hermione had heard it. It made it seem harsher, more real, horrible and _mean_.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Seamus said after a few moments. "Girls are very emotional."

"That's true, I suppose." Dean nodded, but he still looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Listen, mate, don't worry about it. It'll all be over before you know it; they'll get married and still quarrel over it as an old couple." Seamus said and then they both started laughing.

"But seriously," Seamus said, "I can see it happening. They're opposites, aren't they?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well don't they say opposites attract?"

"I've never heard that before, and if I didn't know any better I'd say you've been reading your mum's magazines." Dean grinned.

"I have not." Seamus said defiantly but a red blush crept up his cheeks all the same. "But anyway, apparently they do, so Ron and Hermione will end up married someday."

"You want to bet on that?" Dean asked.

"Sure thing, the loser has to buy the winner a bag of fizzing whizzbees." Seamus said, putting his hand out for Dean to shake.

"A bag of what?" Dean asked. Having been brought up in the muggle world, Dean had never heard of these sweets before.

"Fizzing whizzbees, only the best sweets in the whole world. Don't tell me you've never heard of fizzing whizzbees?"

Dean just shook his head.

"I don't know why we're friends." Seamus said in a disappointed voice and started walking towards their next class. "Doesn't even know about fizzing whizzbees."

"Hey Seamus, wait up! Tell me about them then!" Dean said and he hurried after his friend.

* * *

Neither Dean nor Seamus remembered this bet in years to come. It was far too small and trivial to be remembered. Both had other things to be getting on with. Things like jobs, girlfriends, friends and other things took up their lives. They were, of course, invited to the wedding but a bag of fizzing whizzbees was never exchanged because they never really thought about it afterward. Quite simply, other things were on their mind and a small matter on a Halloween mornng was not important any more.

Not all bets are remembered and their debts paid.

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Author's note: I understand that it might be a bit of a letdown that the bet wasn't resolved but in the scheme of things a bet a couple of boys made in first year is hardly going to be remembered by them when they become adults. Maybe if it was a more serious bet but something this trivial I didn't think would be remembered in adulthood. I certainly don't remember bets that I might have made at eleven (even though I don't think I made any).

**Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate them so much. I'm now over 200 which is just incredible. Thanks again.**

**Remember to vote on the poll!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	21. Teddy L and Victoire W

**The quick update between this chapter and the last is my apology for the fact I am going to be away from my computer (and _any_ internet access) for about 10 days while I go on holiday and so there shall be no more updates for a couple of weeks (but I'll try my hardest to update very quickly after my return home). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

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_Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley, 7th/5th Year_

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At Kings Cross station there was the usual hustle and bustle of morning commuters making their way to various platforms, in order to take the trains they needed. There was even more noise than usual on this particular morning because, of course, it was the first of September. This meant that a part of the wizarding community made its way to Kings Cross to send their various relatives off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As everyone knew, the Weasley family was very large and all the Weasley children had reached, or were slowly reaching Hogwarts school age. Consequently there were a lot of red haired people making their way to the barrier between platforms nine and ten in order to get onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

"Why can't I go as well?" A small boy with black hair and brilliant green eyes asked the blue haired teenage boy next to him. The teenager in question was pushing a trolley which held a large trunk and a sleeping owl.

"Because you're not old enough, Al." Teddy Lupin responded. "But don't worry; everything will still be there when it's your turn."

"You won't be." Al pointed out.

"True, but almost everyone else will be. And you'll still see me at Christmas, and Easter and it in the summer. And anyway, you'll have too much fun to miss me." Teddy grinned at the boy he thought of as a brother.

"Alright, Teddy, you go first." Teddy's godfather, Harry said, cutting Teddy and Al's conversation short.

"Sure thing." Teddy said and he stared at the solid barrier between platforms nine and ten. After six years of doing this, Teddy didn't even flinch as he pushed his trolley into the wall and came out the other side.

Teddy was soon followed by the Potter family (Harry, Ginny, James, Al and Lily) and a lot of the Weasley family. In fact, almost all of the family had turned up. Bill and Fleur were there with Victoire, Dominique and Louis; Percy and Audrey with Molly and Lucy; George and Angelina with Fred and Roxanne. The only parts of the family that weren't there were Molly and Arthur (but they had been more times than they could count), and Ron and Hermione with Hugo and Rose (as neither had reached Hogwarts age).

Almost as soon as they all got to the other side, most of the family left to find various friends. Molly and Dominique were hailed by some 3rd year girls, Louis went to take his trunk to a compartment with a few fellow second years and Lucy had found her best friend, Olivia and had gone over to talk to her. The only people left were the parents, who had started a discussion on the upcoming elections for Minister of Magic, the group of new first years: James, Fred, Roxanne, as well as Lily, Al, Teddy and Victoire.

The three who were starting Hogwarts started having a discussion about houses while the younger Potters talked about a new broom that had just come out.

"How long do you think it will take the three musketeers here to get a detention?" Teddy asked Victoire, nodding in the direction of James, Fred and Roxanne.

Victoire surveyed her cousins for a few seconds and then responded "Three days."

"That long?" Teddy asked in surprise.

"Oh please, they'll be too excited about being there to cause any mischief in the first couple of days." Victoire explained.

"You really think that?" Teddy asked with raised eyebrows.

"I really _know_ that." Victoire corrected. "I know it took you and your friends a whole week."

"We hadn't known each other previously," Teddy pointed out, "unlike those three who have been creating mischief since they were in nappies."

"Doesn't matter, they'll be overwhelmed when they first get there." Victoire said.

"You're wrong." Teddy said simply.

"When do you think they'll get their first detention then, oh master of mischief?" Victoire challenged.

"Before the night is out." Teddy smirked.

"You sound pretty certain; do you want to bet on that?" Victoire asked.

"Of course, what are we betting?"

"If I win, you get me a date with your friend, Greg Peterson."

"Fine," Teddy said, "but when I win you aren't allowed to date any of my friends, ever."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because it would be weird, you're my best friend, you're practically my cousin; I don't want my other friends dating you." Teddy said, trying to stop the blush that was threatening to creep onto his face (not that he had any idea _why_).

"Fine, but when I win, I get that date."

"Ok then." Teddy said and he held out his hand for Victoire to shake.

"I'm going to win." she said as she shook his hand.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." he smirked.

"What are you up to?" she asked she drew her hand away, looking at him suspiciously.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

* * *

_Around midday, on the train_

Teddy walked up the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, looking in each compartment to find the little terrors he was looking for. He grew a little more frustrated as he passed each compartment that didn't have them in it, couldn't he just find them and get back to his friends? He was almost at the end of the train when he found the kids he was looking for.

He heard them before he saw them, a loud shout of laughter coming from the compartment two up from where he was. Grinning to himself, he walked towards the compartment and opened the door.

"Hey Ted, how are you?" a messy black haired boy asked as he walked into the compartment and sat down on one of the empty seats.

"I'm pretty good, squirt, how are you?" Teddy asked James. "You lot nervous about the sorting?"

"Nah," Fred said, shaking head of ginger hair, "we'll be in Gryffindor like you Ted, never you fear." The other two nodded

"So, have you lot got any mischief planned for tonight?" he asked them.

"Why Teddy, going to stop us?" Roxanne smirked as though she didn't think he could.

"Nope, I was just wondering if you were." Teddy shrugged, although he was grinning inside, what Roxanne had said was basically a confession.

"Well Teddy Bear, that would be telling." Fred grinned.

"And we can't have that, can we?" James smirked.

"No, of course not, I'll just leave you three to it." Teddy grinned back and left the compartment.

"See you later, Teddy."

_Well_, he thought, _there was nothing more to do here, they didn't even need any persuading._

* * *

_After the feast_

After a rather, ah, interesting feast, Teddy Lupin starting making his way up to the Gryffindor common room with his friends Grey Peterson and Andrew Jordan. They were on the fourth floor when something made him stop.

"Did you tell them to do something?" an angry voice called from behind him.

Telling his friends to continue their way up to the common room, Teddy Lupin turned around to see a very angry part Veela storming up to him. He grinned.

"Whatever do you mean, Vic?" He asked his best friend innocently as she reached him.

"Did you tell Roxanne, Fred and James to start a food fight at the feast?" Victoire glared at him.

"I can honestly tell you I had no idea they were going to start a food fight." Teddy told her.

"But did you tell them to start any mischief?" she asked, still glaring at him.

"No, I didn't." He told her truthfully.

She continued to glare at him so he added "Well maybe I went to see them and check if they were going to do something and they as good as told me that they were. But really, I didn't persuade them or anything, they were already planning on doing it."

Victoire's face changed from a glare to a frustrated look.

"Fine, you win. I won't ask Greg out." she said grumpily. "But next time, you don't get to have _any_ contact with them after the bet is made."

"That's fine by me." Teddy grinned and they made their way the rest of the stairs to Gryffindor Tower together.

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**Author's note: It seems like, yet again, I am not fond of the ending but that doesn't really matter, here you are. Vic and Teddy were fourth on my poll about who you wanted to see making bets, behind the Marauders; Remus, Sirius and the twins (although I probably won't do another bet about them, one is enough I think); and Harry, Ron and Hermione (I'll get one of those up eventually). **

**I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for your reviews! **

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	22. Draco M and Ron W

**Because, what if someone took Malfoy up on that bet?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All bolded text out of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' belongs to J.K Rowling, not me. **

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Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley, 4__th__ Year (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

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**Predictably, Malfoy arrived at Hagrid's cabin with his familiar sneer firmly in place.**

"**Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle the moment he got within earshot of Harry. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer… Half the Triwizard champions have died… how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."**

When Draco Malfoy uttered those words, he never dreamt that someone who take him up on his bet. Never in his wildest nightmares would he have thought someone would have actually taken him seriously and demanded that he put his galleons where his mouth was.

"I'll take you up on that bet, Malfoy." A loud voice said from behind him as he made his way up to the castle after the Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Weasley," Draco sneered as he turned around to face the freckly Gryffindor who, for once, was not standing next to Potter, "I don't take bets where the winner gets _nothing_."

"Funnily enough, Malfoy, neither do I." Weasley glared at him.

"Then which bet are you referring to, Weaselby?" Draco rolled his eyes.

"The one about Harry lasting 10 minutes into the first task." he said evenly.

"Well how long do think Potter _will_ last?" he sneered.

"The whole tournament, Malfoy." Weasley said. "Are you going to make that bet or are you too scared you'll lose?"

"Of course I'm not _scared_." Draco said but he couldn't deny to himself that he was. There was no way that Dumbledore would let his favourite student die in a tournament under his control, but he wasn't going to tell Weasley that. "But if we make this bet, we make it on _my_ terms."

"Name your price." Weasley challenged.

"Ten galleons, Weasley, you may have to sell your family's house to get _half_ that much but that's my price." Draco smirked.

"You're on." Weasley smirked back, holding out his hand for Draco to shake.

"You don't seriously think I'll shake _your_ hand, Weaselby?" Draco sneered. "I don't want a blood traitor contaminating it."

"Being a blood traitor isn't contagious, Malfoy, but fine, you're going to have to pay up come June anyway." He said and walked away without another word.

_Oh please_, Draco thought, _please let Potter die so Weasley doesn't get one over on me._

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_The day after the third task (while Harry is having his interview with the Diggorys)_

To Ron's credit, he didn't try and humiliate Malfoy when he went to collect his winnings; he wasn't that sort of person. He'd left the common room for a walk in the late afternoon (Hermione was reading to get her mind off things and Harry wasn't around to play chess). He'd made his way to the grounds when he spotted three boys by the lake. One had a white blond head and the other two were rather large; it could only be Draco Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle. Remembering his bet with the ferret, he walked over to collect his gold.

"So Malfoy," Ron said which made Malfoy jump in fright and quickly spin around to face him, "how much did we bet?"

"What are you talking about, Weasley?" Malfoy asked while his cronies cracked their knuckles threateningly as though daring Ron to do something he'd regret.

"The bet we made in November." Ron said simply. "You said Harry wouldn't last five minutes in the Tournament and it looks like he made it out alive. Guess you owe me 10 galleons."

"You thought I was being serious, Weaselby?" Malfoy sneered. "You're not getting any gold off me."

"Oh please, Malfoy, it's 10 galleons, it's not like your family isn't rolling in gold anyway." Ron rolled his eyes. "It's simple, you pay me or I tell everyone in this school that you lost a bet to Harry Potter's filthy, _Gryffindor_, blood-traitor best friend."

"You wouldn't do that Weasley." Malfoy tried to say calmly but there was a flicker of fear in his cold, grey eyes. "You don't have the guts."

"You're trying to tell me that a Gryffindor doesn't have the guts to do something when it means humiliating someone he hates?" Ron rolled his eyes. "You know I'd tell _everyone_, Malfoy."

Malfoy hated to admit it (believe him, he _hated _it), but Weasley knew how to blackmail someone into doing what he wanted.

"How do I know that you won't tell everyone anyway when I hand over the gold?" Malfoy may admit that Weasley knew how to blackmail, but that didn't mean that he wasn't better at getting what he wanted.

"Because I, unlike you, am an honourable person and _keep my word_."

Well, try as he might, Malfoy couldn't fault him there. Bloody Gryffindors, always doing the _right_ thing. They were complete idiots, the whole lot of them.

Ron stood there, watching the internal battle that must be going on in Malfoy's brain. Let go of his pride and pay Ron the money or refuse and run the risk of Ron telling the whole school about it? Ron couldn't say that he knew which side was winning as Malfoy's face remained, as ever, an impassive mask. After a few minutes of what Ron could only assume was very careful consideration, Malfoy spoke.

"Alright then Weasley, you can have the money. You might be able to afford another bedroom for your family to sleep in; it must be such a shame to all sleep in one room." Malfoy sneered, but putting his hand into his cloak nevertheless and taking the gold out of it (one never knew when there might be someone to bribe and it was crucial to have the gold ready).

Usually, Ron would have insulted Malfoy and hit him with a jinx, or his fist, before Hermione could come out and stop him. However, he restrained himself this time, seeing as he was getting 10 galleons out of it. He settled with a "Piss off, Malfoy" and walked back up to the castle.

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"Here." Ron said, thrusting the galleons on Harry's lap.

It was around 20 minutes after Malfoy had given Ron the gold and Ron had returned to Gryffindor Tower to find his best friends sitting in their usual spots by the fire. Hermione was still engrossed in her book but looked up and smiled when he walked in. Harry, on the other hand, was staring into the fire with a lost look on his face.

"What's this?" Harry asked, staring down at the galleons Ron had thrown at him. "I've just won a thousand galleons that the Diggorys won't take off me, why would I want this?"

"It's yours, for the Omnioculars." Ron told him as he sat down in the seat opposite Harry. "Now you really _do_ have to get me a Christmas present."

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Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter; I was a bit nervous because of its characters. It was hard because really, would Ron and Malfoy really make a bet together? But I really couldn't figure out anyone else to do it with. Neville crossed my mind but he was really quite scared at this point in the series and I didn't think he'd have the guts to stand up to Malfoy, just for a bet. For Ron, on the other hand, I saw it as a bit of guilt for reacting so harshly to Harry the previous night and also the loyalty he still has for Harry, even though they weren't speaking at that point. I tried so hard to keep them in character so I'd really appreciate reviews on this one.

**Thanks to everyone for all their reviews and support, it means the world to me (as I'm sure I've said before).**

**I'm not sure what the next chapter is going to be as I've got a couple that I'm part way through: the Weasley siblings in the Chamber of Secrets (that one might take a little while to get right), Fred and George in the Goblet of Fire (but I'm having second thoughts about the idea), and Remus and Tonks in the Order of the Phoenix (I think this one will be next as I've got the furthest on it). But then again, it could be a completely different one, this one came after I'd written for the others. **

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	23. Remus L and N Tonks

**I was thinking, while reading a review from GossipGirlHere a few chapters back (who thought it would be interesting to see some adults betting on Ron/Hermione), and I thought why wouldn't Tonks and Remus make a bet? They just both seem like the type to (and they have, in previous and probably future chapters) and so here they are!**

**So, dedicated to GossipGirlHere.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

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Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

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It was the beginning of the summer holidays and usually, this wouldn't have meant a thing to Remus Lupin. This year, however, he was spending his summer months at number 12 Grimmauld Place. It wasn't the nicest summer residence, but it wasn't the worst either. Add in a friend Remus had barely seen in 13 years (mainly because of his belief that Sirius was a murdering traitor), and Remus had himself a very merry summer to look forward to.

One thing that made Remus really acknowledge the fact that it was the summer holidays was the arrival of the Weasley Family at Grimmauld Place. Remus had, of course, already met most of the Weasley family before this summer. He'd known Molly and Arthur briefly during the First War through Molly's brothers, Gideon and Fabian, who were in the Order with Remus. He knew most of the children from teaching them in his short time as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. Percy Weasley had been in his final year, Fred and George in their fifth, Ron in his third and Ginny in her second. The only two members that Remus hadn't met before this summer were Bill and Charlie; however he had had the pleasure of meeting them both at an Order meeting earlier in the month.

To say Grimmauld wasn't as quiet with the Weasleys around would be a bit of an understatement. With noises and explosions coming out of the room that the twins shared, the thundering of Ron's heavy feet as he searched the house for his book about the Cannons (which Ginny had conveniently forgotten to tell him she'd borrowed) and Mrs Weasley's yells as she told everyone to quieten down; well, it wasn't as peaceful as it usually was. However Remus could say that it was a definite improvement, he much preferred the house noisy and full of life, rather than the drab and dreary feel it had had before the Weasleys had arrived. Something, he knew, Sirius agreed with.

"It's so nice to hear harmless chaos again." Sirius said as he leant back in his chair in the kitchen.

"I agree." Remus nodded, taking a sip from the tea cup in his hands.

"It reminds me of that time at Hogwarts when we-"Sirius stopped as the sound of the kitchen door opened and Tonks came into the room.

"Wotcher!" Tonks said brightly to the two of them and sat down next to Sirius.

"Hello Tonks." Remus smiled at her.

"Your entrance was a bit quiet there, dear cousin, how on earth did you manage _not_ to trip over the umbrella stand?" Sirius asked with a glint of mischief in his cold eyes.

"Don't ask me, I have no idea." Tonks admitted. Sirius let out a bark like laugh and Remus smiled. "So what's going on around here?"

"Not much." Remus said. "The Weasleys arrived two days ago and Hermione arrived this morning so the house has been pretty loud."

"Who's Hermione?" Tonks asked.

"Harry and Ron Weasley's friend," Sirius explained, "cleverest witch of her age."

"Says who?" Tonks raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone." Remus said simply, draining the last bit of tea from his cup.

Before they could continue however, they were distracted from this conversation by a loud voice from the hall.

"Honestly, Ron, you can't have looked very hard. Where did you last put it?" A female voice said loudly.

"Hermione, you need to be quiet in the-"But it was too late: the portraits had woken up.

"MUDBLOODS! BLOOD TRAITORS! FILTH! All begone from this place-"Sirius's mother's portrait had started screaming again.

All three at the kitchen table got up and raced up to the hallway where the other portraits had started waking up. Remus and Tonks each grabbed a side of a curtain and pulled it over Mrs Black's portrait. Sirius on the other hand ran up the hallway, stunning all the other portraits. While this was happening, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger stood in the hall. Ron looked almost bored at the proceedings but Hermione was in a state of shock, staring at the portrait that had just been yelling.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Remus asked the girl calmly quietly once the hallway had been silenced.

"Who- Who _was _that?" Hermione asked, wide eyes staring at the stretch of curtain that the portrait of Sirius's mother was behind.

"My mother." Sirius said darkly.

Hermione nodded, having already been informed that Sirius was the owner of the house and what type of people his family were, still looking quite shaken.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Ron asked.

Four pairs of eyes looked at him.

"It's what my mum does when someone's upset." He shrugged.

"I'm not upset." Hermione said abruptly. "I was just a little shocked."

Ron shrugged again. "Doesn't stop you from having a cup of tea."

"Why don't we all go and get a cup of tea?" Tonks suggested brightly.

"Who are you?" Ron asked bluntly.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "You don't greet someone like that."

"It's alright." Tonks smiled. "But maybe we should get down to the kitchen before we make another noise that wakes up the portraits."

"Such as falling over an umbrella stand, or something of the sort?" Remus grinned.

"Not you too." Tonks rolled her eyes but she couldn't stop the red crawling up her cheeks.

Nevertheless, they all made their way to the kitchen and Remus put the kettle on.

"I'm Tonks." Tonks introduced herself to the two teenagers.

"She's actually Nymphadora." Sirius told them. Tonks shot a glare in his direction.

"It's Tonks." Tonks stressed. "You'd go by your last name too if your idiot mother named you Nymphadora."

"Hermione Granger." Hermione said politely.

"Ron Weasley." Ron said. "What are you lot doing down here?"

"Not much." Sirius admitted. "What were you shouting about?"

"Ron has misplaced his book." Hermione said, an air of disapproval in her voice.

"I did not _misplace_ it, someone took it." Ron snapped.

"Oh really," Hermione rolled her eyes, "who would want your book on the Cabins?"

"It's the _Cannons_." Ron said indignantly. "I don't know. All I know is that I put it on the bedside table when I went to help Mum clean out those cupboards in the upstairs bedrooms and when I went back to my room to change into a clean shirt it was _gone_."

"It probably just fell on the floor, did you check under the bed?" Hermione asked calmly.

"Of course I did, I'm not stupid." Ron retorted.

"Are they always like this?" Tonks asked Sirius and Remus as the three watched the pair argue.

"I don't know. This is only the third time I've seen them together. But they were definitely like it the second time." Sirius said.

"From what I know, yes, they are." Remus assured her.

"And they're friends?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

"Best friends." Sirius corrected.

"It'll be in your room, Ronald." Hermione said, she seemed to have finally gotten worked up. "I'll go and check myself."

And completely forgetting that her tea was about to be ready, Hermione got out of her seat and stalked out of the door, Ron following her. It was then that the kettle boiled and Remus poured the three of them tea.

"They act like an old married couple." Sirius said.

"They act like Lily and James." Remus said.

"I disagree, I think their personalities just clash." Tonks told them. "That doesn't make them like an old married couple."

"You don't think there's anything going on between them?" Remus asked her curiously.

"Of course not, boys and girls can be friends without there being something going on." Tonks said.

"I agree with you, but that's not the case with these two." Remus said.

"What makes you say that?"

"I've met them. There just _is_ something between them."

"You're completely barmy. You don't even have a proper reason other than they are a boy and girl that happen to be close." Tonks told him.

"That's not it." Remus defended. "It's hard to explain, they're just...argh, I don't know...they're just _right_ for each other. They'll get together at some point."

"You want to bet on that, Lupin?" Tonks challenged.

"Of course, Nymphadora." Remus smirked. "What are we betting?"

"A galleon and a bar of Honeydukes chocolate?" Tonks suggested.

"Done." Remus said, putting his hand out for her to shake. "I'm not loosing this bet again."

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We are unable to tell you whether this bet was resolved and whether Remus got his galleon off Tonks. It is a tragedy that both died during the Battle of Hogwarts, when they had so much love and life left to offer the world. We hope they are some place safe and that they indeed saw Ron and Hermione _finally_ get together and that Remus enjoyed his block of chocolate.

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**Author's note: Well, would you look at that? Another bet that wasn't resolved. I feel the need to justify this one too. Although I have done bets with dead characters (James, Sirius and Fred to name a few), never where both participants are dead. I felt that it would take away from the story to talk about their life after death. I preferred it this way. **

**Another thing, I understand that the bet is not that much but Tonks would know that Remus doesn't have that much money and would respect that and make the bet something that he could afford. It's just something she would do. If the bet was with, say Malfoy (as seen in the previous chapter) or Snape, they wouldn't have been so kind.**

**A note to ****GossipGirlHere****: I just re-read your review and realised you wanted it so the bet would be paid...opps? I'm really sorry, hopefully you enjoy it regardless. I've got some ideas for other people betting on them or Harry/Ginny anyway so it should happen at some point. **

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	24. Sirius and Regulus B

**Sorry for the wait, guys, I just really haven't had any inspiration. Seriously, I had about four chapters started and couldn't finish them, they just sucked. I'm hoping more inspiration will to me but I can't make any promises for anything really soon.**

**I've also decided that this story will be 50 chapters. More people voted for 100 but I just don't think I'll be able to keep it going for that long (I don't have that many ideas sorry). So 50 it is.**

**I'm going to have a poll on my profile about which people you'd like the ****_last_**** bet to be about in this story. Just so I can plan it ahead of time and make it really good. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

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__Sirius and Regulus Black __

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"Don't do it, Sirius."

"Why not?"

"Mum will get angry, you know she will."

"So?"

"Then you'll get in trouble and I won't be able to play with you."

"But it'll be worth it."

"How, Sirius?"

"We get to see the looks on their faces." A seven year old Sirius Black cackled gleefully.

Sirius and his brother Regulus were standing on the first floor landing of their home, Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius, black hair falling into his eyes, was holding up a large coloured balloon full of water, grinning down at this little brother. Regulus, on the other hand, was looking up at Sirius, his eyes full of concern. He held a large book under his small 5-year-old arms, preferring reading over disturbing their mother.

"Is that really worth getting in a lot of trouble?" Regulus asked him.

"Of course! The reactions are the best bit to any prank. Here, I'll show you."

"Wait!" Regulus exclaimed, stopping his brother from dropping the balloon onto their mother and Aunt who were talking in the hall below. "You can't do it! Please, Sirius. I just know you'll get in so much trouble, you'll probably miss anyway. All that trouble for nothing!"

"What? Sirius Orion Black does not miss his targets!" Sirius exclaimed, puffing out his chest proudly, looking rather foolish, though he didn't know it.

"But you do!" Regulus told him. "Remember when you tried to hit that bludger but ended up hitting yourself in the-"

"Yes, well, I've been practising." Sirius said, turning slightly crimson.

"On what?"

"Kreacher."

"Sirius!"

"What, Reg? He doesn't mind."

"That's a lie and you know it!"

"Yes well, doesn't change the fact that I will hit the target this time." Sirius said.

"You'll miss you. I'll bet my pocket money this week on it!" Regulus said.

"You'd really do that?" Sirius asked him.

"Of course." Regulus rolled his eyes. "I know that you're not good at these sorts of things."

"Then it is on, little brother." Sirius grinned, mischief glinting in his signature Black eyes.

"As long as you don't tell Mum I was involved with this." Regulus said seriously. He'd been roped into Sirius's stupidity more times than he could count. The 5 year old had finally learnt to make Sirius promise to take the blame himself for these kinds of things, instead of shoving it onto Regulus.

"Alright then, it's a deal." Sirius held out his hand and Regulus tentatively shook it.

The two brothers leant over the banister again, looking down at their mother and aunt once more. Sirius lifted up the balloon, a grin plastered on his face. Regulus looked on nervously, but he couldn't help but grin a little at the thought of the prank. He was only five; we can forgive him for giving into his brother's wayward ways just this once.

"Watch and learn, Regulus." Sirius looked positively ecstatic as he positioned the balloon, making sure to lean over the banister just the right amount. "On the count of three. Right?"

"Right." Regulus said somewhat hesitantly.

"One."

"Two." Regulus whispered.

"Three." Sirius cackled and let the balloon drop.

Needless to say, as Sirius had really been practicing on Kreacher, the balloon hit its target with a splash. Unfortunately for the pair of brothers, their mother looked up before they had time to duck away and blame the incident on Kreacher. Well, Sirius would blame it on Kreacher; Regulus would blame it on Sirius.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Walburga Black screeched loudly, waking all sorts of portraits along the hallway. "WHAT DID YOU JUST DROP ON US?"

"It was just water, Mum, lighten up." Sirius said bravely, trying to keep the grin off his face as his mother stomped up the stairs. Sirius thought she looked rather like a drowned cat with the way she was hissing and dripping water everywhere.

"You little brat! Go to your room, now!" she barked. "No dinner and you are not to come out until the morning."

"But what if I need to go to the toilet?" Sirius asked cheekily. However, at the look on his mother's face, he fled the scene.

While this conversation had been taking place, Regulus was creeping further and further away, hoping to be unnoticed by his mother. His already pale face whitened even further when his mother turned her ferocious eyes upon him. To his relief, they softened somewhat when she caught his eye.

"Regulus, I want you to know that that was very irresponsible, I don't want to involving yourself in your brother's hooliganism ever again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Mum." Regulus said obediently.

"Good." Walburga nodded and stomped back down the stairs to finish saying goodbye to her sister in law, Druella.

* * *

It was late that night when Regulus walked slowly and quietly across the landing to his brother's room. He had heard his parents go to bed awhile ago and had deemed it safe to venture to Sirius's room without getting caught. Regulus managed to prise to door open, thank Merlin, quietly and tiptoed into the room.

"Sirius!" He hissed in the darkness. "Sirius! Wake up!"

"I'm awake, Reg." Sirius's voice called out from the other side of the room.

"Can you make it light in here then?" Regulus whined. "I can't see anything."

There was the unmistakeable strike of a match and Sirius lit a candle by his bedside.

"How'd you get those?" Regulus asked, staring at the matches.

"Uncle Alphard gave them to me. In case I needed to get something from the kitchen when dear old Mum makes me stay in my room." Sirius said bitterly as his stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Well, I have a propotion- a preptision, no a-"

"A proposititation?" Sirius questioned.

"No, no, that's not it." Regulus said in a frustrated manner.

"You have an agreement for me then?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. If you don't make me pay for our bet, I'll give you the food I took from the table tonight." Regulus said, taking some slightly dusty bread, cold pieces of chicken and a couple of squashed potatoes out from the pocket of his pyjamas.

Sirius eyed the food hungrily, his aching stomach groaning with hunger.

"But what if I-"

"No. It's the money or the food."

"I can go and get food myself."

"Then I'll tell Mum that you left your room and stole food from the kitchen." Regulus countered.

"You're a little brat, did you know that?" Sirius grumbled. "Deal."

"Hear you go." Regulus said happily, handing his brother the food and leaving the room.

"Can't believe he wormed his way out of giving me the money." Sirius complained through a mouthful of chicken.

**

* * *

**

**Author's note: Sorry again that this has taken so long to get out to you. I hope you enjoyed it never the less. I did worry about how old Regulus and Sirius seemed but I realistically, I think that they would rather intelligent children. The Blacks would have wanted to educate their children well to show that they were 'above' others. **

**Anyway, sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for the reviews!**

**TTFN **

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	25. Neville L and Seamus F

**Another quite serious one, sorry! But the inspiration kind of struck and I've been wanting to do a bet with Neville for ages so here it is. **

**Remember to vote on the poll on which bet you want the last one to be!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, all bolded text from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows belongs to J.K Rowling, not me. **

* * *

_Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan, 7__th__Year (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)_

* * *

It had been about a week since Neville had disappeared into the Room of Requirement and it had gotten to a point where everyone was beginning to lose hope. It wasn't hard to see why. The DA knew next to nothing about what was happening outside the walls of Hogwarts and the small bits they did hear weren't bits of good news. Day after day they got small bits of information from Aberforth about the growing number of deaths and disappearances. They heard about even more people getting arrested or tortured. The only good news they heard was from Potterwatch, and even that was tainted with a more accurate account of torture and death. It was always worse when they recognised the name. It had happened far too many times.

Almost all of the DA was in the Room of Requirement, having been chased there by the Carrows at various stages. Each member was coping with the imprisonment differently. Some of them, mostly Ravenclaws, wasted the time by reading the books that the room provided. Some chatted with friends, trying to remember better times. This was while others practiced spells or got some extra sleep while they could.

However, some members didn't cope well with not doing anything. Most of these were in Gryffindor for a reason. They couldn't stand doing nothing. Neville Longbottom was understandably one of these people. He was usually found pacing up and down the room, trying to figure out the DA's next move and trying to work out how to have more contact with the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"When do you think it's going to end?" Seamus asked from his seat on one of the armchairs, barely managing to get the words out of his mangled face.

"The war?" Hannah clarified.

"Of course the war." Seamus snapped.

"Don't snap at her." Ernie retorted. "It's not her fault you're in a grumpy mood."

"Well what else would I mean?" Seamus asked, clearly eager for a fight.

"Well, if you'd just-"

"Alright, alright, just stop it you two." Neville stopped his pacing to turn to Ernie and Seamus who were glaring at each other. "Fighting among ourselves isn't going to solve anything."

"No, but it's something to do." Seamus said bitterly. He wasn't taking his confinement well, which was to be expected. Ever since the start of the year he'd been worried about his best friend, but more recently he'd had some bad news. No one knew where Dean was. He was reported missing and some of the men he was travelling with were killed. Seamus wanted nothing more than to get out into the countryside and find Dean himself. To make sure he was alive.

"You could be practicing spells." Neville pointed out as he resumed his pacing. "For when we have the battle."

"You keep talking about this upcoming battle, but it's not going to happen, Neville." Seamus said.

"What do you mean it's not going to happen? Harry's going to come and he's going to get us out of this mess."

"What proof to we have of that?" Seamus asked. "We haven't heard anything about him since last year. What's do say he hasn't just done a runner?"

Every single person in the Room of Requirement had gone silent and was looking from Seamus to Neville and back again, watching the emotions on their faces. Seamus looked defeated, looked like he was ready to give up. He was never the easiest to convince of something and it looked as though his waiting for Harry had been done. Neville on the other hand looked determined. There was a slightly mad glint in his eyes which suggested he knew that Harry would come back, that he wasn't backing down anytime soon.

"He's up to something. I know he is." Neville said defiantly. "He wouldn't just leave us to fight for ourselves. You've known Harry just as long as I have; you know he'd never back down."

"He might have realised there was no hope." Seamus said bitterly. "I don't see us getting out of this anytime soon."

"I know he's up to something." Neville repeated. "Ginny said that Harry as good as told her that before he left. And you know Ginny's no liar."

"But it's been almost 9 months, a lot can happen then. He could be dead for all we know." Seamus pointed out.

There was a sharp intake of breath from the room as they continued to watch the two Gryffindors.

"So you're saying you'll stop fighting?" Neville asked.

"I'll never say that and you'll never hear me say that." Seamus said harshly, Neville nodded in acceptance. "I'll keep fighting until I can't fight anymore. But I'm not going to wait for someone to turn up who's not coming."

"He's coming, I know he is." Neville said, the mad look in his dark eyes even more noticeable.

"You want to bet on it?" Seamus asked.

"Willing to part with your gold, Finnigan?" Neville countered, almost grinning in spite of himself.

"Five galleons say he doesn't come back."

"Five galleons say he'll be here before we know it. It's only a matter of time."

"It's a bet."

"Yes, yes it is."

* * *

"**Neville - what the - how - ?"**

**But Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with yells of delight was hugging them too. The longer Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: One of his eyes was swollen yellow and purple, there were gouge marks on his face, and his general air of unkemptness suggested that he had been living rough. **

**Nevertheless, his battered visage shone with happiness as he let go of Hermione and said again, "I knew you'd come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"**

* * *

_The feast after the defeat of Voldemort_

**He saw Neville, the sword of Gryffindor lying beside his plate as he ate, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirers. **

Neville didn't pay much attention to the people around him who were praising his bravery. The time had long passed where he wished to be congratulated for every achievement, praised for every triumph. He had needed those once, to feel as though he was worth something. And now, having lived through the war, he felt as though his own feeling of accomplishment was praise enough.

"Move along there, budge up, I'm his friend." A loud voice said, squeezing onto the seat beside Neville.

"Yeah, you too. Move along, there's plenty of room." Another said, sitting down on Neville's other side.

"Glad to see you two." Neville grinned. "Good thing you didn't get yourselves into too much trouble."

"Nah, it was no problem." said Seamus, although what was left of his face begged to differ.

"Barely a scratch." Dean agreed. And although he wasn't quite as bad as Seamus, his body too showed the marks of a person who had fought a deadly battle.

"Anyway mate; I came over to say that you were right." Seamus admitted. "I'll give you the money when I can get to it but for now, I think you'll just be happy with the satisfaction of being right."

"Yeah," Neville grinned. "I have to say I am."

And although Neville didn't feel the need to be praised anymore, it never hurt to know that he was right.

* * *

Author's note: Ergh, not sure about the ending on this one either (but c'est la vie). I hope you enjoyed it. Next time I will try and get more humour into it, never fear.

**Thanks for all the reviews and all the support in general (the alerts, favourites, just to the people reading). This has now become my most alerted story ever which is rather exciting if I do say so myself. I'd really appreciate a review from you all, though, just to see what you thought.**

**Thanks again.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo **


	26. Remus L and James P

**We're now over half way guys! And with a year behind us. Hopefully I'll finish this before the year is out. **

**Can I just apologise for the complete lack of hilarity when it comes to the prank? I'm definitely more victim than prankster material. Sorry it's rubbish. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Remus Lupin and James Potter, 4__th__ Year_

* * *

"This is going to end in disaster." Remus Lupin warned his friends.

Three of the four Marauders were standing at the banister of the staircase, looking down at the Entrance Hall below. Remus, however, was standing back from his friends, trying to discourage them from their current idiocy. Sometimes it wasn't easy being the sanest of the group (not that it really helped his case at all, _all_ the Marauders were insane, there was no question about it). However, as the sanest it was his job to make sure they didn't do anything _too_ stupid.

"Nonsense, Moony." James Potter said. "This is going to be brilliant."

"A brilliant _disaster_." Remus stressed.

"Stop being so uptight, Moony, we'll be fine." Sirius Black said.

"We always are." Peter Pettigrew added.

"What about that time you accidently jinxed Flitwick? Or that other time when you let a pack of Nifflers out into the castle and it took hours for you to round them all up? Then there was when you pranked a whole bunch of older, tougher, Slytherins and they jinxed you and you all ended up in the hospital wing?"

"It was worth it." Sirius shrugged. James and Peter sniggered in agreement.

"Or that time when you charmed the lid of McGonagall's biscuit tin shut?" Remus continued. "Or the time you gave the Defence Professor a nervous breakdown? Or the time-"

"You keep saying 'you', Moony," James interrupted, "but you fail to realise that _you_ were involved in all of said expeditions."

"Expeditions? Really?" Remus scoffed.

"Yes, expeditions, Remus." Sirius said walking over to his friend and draping an arm around his shoulder. "And this one is no different."

"It's going to be brilliant." Peter grinned.

"Definitely, Wormtail." James agreed.

"You really think that pitching a load of Screechsnap over the top of the banister is going to be a good idea?" Remus asked sceptically. "Really, I mean I was all for that prank we played on Snape but really, Screechsnap?"

"Yes, Screechsnap." Sirius rolled his eyes, holding a bag which contained a bunch of the green plant. The bag itself was letting off a small squeaks, muffled by the fabric of the bag. "Hell will break loose if we drop this in the Entrance Hall."

"It'll be squeaking for ages before anyone can stop it." Peter said.

"It'll annoy everyone at dinner because the Screechsnap gets louder and louder the longer it stays out of its pot." James said.

"You are such idiots. This has no comedic value whatsoever and we're bound to get into trouble. I see no point!" Remus said.

"You are a wet blanket, mate." Peter said.

"Keep it up like this and you'll be made a prefect." Sirius shook his head ruefully.

"I will not!" Remus protested.

"You will. Telling us to stop having fun." James said.

"I'm honestly not, guys; I just know that this particular prank isn't going to end well for anyone."

"Care to bet on that one, Moony?" James asked, grinning evilly at his friend.

"It depends on what we define 'well' as." Remus narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"We shall define 'well' as not getting a detention, no loss of points, no telling off from Professors, just no Professors proving it was us really." James shrugged.

"Alright then." Remus nodded. "If I win this bet, you are not allowed to tease me about possibly becoming a prefect."

"Fine." James grinned. "And when I win, we are allowed to tease you mercilessly about your 'time of the month' _and _about being our future prefect."

"Two things? That's not fair!" Remus protested.

"Life isn't fair." Peter said, shrugging at his friend.

"And you're the one who's so _sure_ everything's not going to go well." Sirius smirked.

"Fine then." Remus said and he held his hand out for James to shake. "It's a bet."

"That it is, Remus, that it is."

* * *

_Approximately 30 minutes later_

"Is now the appropriate time for 'I told you so'?" Remus hissed at his three friends as the four sat on chairs in Professor McGonagall's office.

"Not really." James muttered back, eyeing McGonagall warily as the quartet watched her mouth go progressively thinner.

"What on earth were you thinking?" McGonagall asked, her lips barely moving as she tried to keep her anger in check. "What on earth possessed you, four reasonably intelligent boys, to drop Screechsnap in the Entrance Hall? Mulciber is in the hospital wing _right _now because you dropped the plant _on him!_"

James and Sirius tried not to smirk in triumph (Mulciber had, after all, been where they had been aiming).

"One week of detention and 10 points from Gryffindor each." McGonagall sharply. "Now go back to Gryffindor tower and please try and stop causing mischief."

"Unlikely." Sirius muttered under his breath as the Marauders left their Head of House's office.

They made it down the corridor before Remus spun around to confront his friends.

"What did I tell you?" Remus exclaimed. "I _knew_ this wouldn't end well. I knew it. But you guys didn't believe me!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." James rolled his eyes. "You were right."

"That's right! I was right, which means that you cannot tease me about possibly becoming a prefect." Remus smugly.

"I guess so." James shrugged. "But who cares? Did you see the look on Mulciber's face?"

The four glanced at each other, mischief glinting in four pairs of eyes- blue, grey, hazel and brown- and they simultaneously started roaring with uncontrollable laughter.

* * *

_September 1__st_

"Look who gets the _honour_ to become a pompous prat!"

Remus turned around from where he was standing in a carriage of the Hogwarts Express to see his three best friends smirking in the doorway.

"No more rule breaking for us." Sirius smirked. "No more sneaking out into the grounds."

"It's the tragic end of all our pranks." Peter grinned.

"Because we would never be able to pull them off with a _prefect_ in our midst." James finished, smirking at his friend who had a shiny red and cold badge pinned to his jumper.

"I thought you weren't allowed to tease me about being prefect." Remus said, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks. This was exactly _why _he hadn't told me that he'd received the badge.

"No, we said we wouldn't tease you about becoming a prefect." James corrected.

"But now you are one..." Peter trailed off.

"We're allowed to take the mickey out of you all we want!" Sirius grinned.

"Why am I even friends with you?" Remus rolled his eyes but he couldn't keep the small smile off his face.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry about the wait, inspiration just wasn't happening. I've got 6 unfinished chapters for this but they're all in-progress and nothing's really working out. **

**To everyone who wanted a Krum chapter: well, I've started it. The characterisation isn't too bad, in my opinion, but the way I'm writing the accent is ridiculous. So that might be something that no one's eyes but mine see (and maybe my sister who occasionally looks through my unfinished fanfics). So yeah, sorry, that might never be finished.**

**And Screechsnap is a real plant, in case you were wondering. It's mentioned in a Herbology lesson in Order of the Phoenix. **

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews. Your support is heart warming.**

**TTFN **

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	27. Draco M and Blaise Z

**You know you've been reading too much Glee fanfiction when you catch yourself writing 'Blaine' instead of 'Blaise' more than once while writing a chapter for a Harry Potter fanfic. Seriously, if you catch one that I didn't fix, please tell me. I wouldn't be surprised. **

**For everyone who voted for Draco and his friends on the poll. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All bolded text is taken from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and belongs to J.K Rowling. **

* * *

_Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, 2nd Year (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)_

* * *

"**I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger —"**

"The next one dies, really Malfoy?" Blaise Zabini sneered at his house mate as they left Potions that day, neither noticing Ron Weasley who looked like he was about to thump Malfoy (he would have too, if Dean Thomas and Harry Potter hadn't been holding him back).

"It's only a matter of time, Zabini." Malfoy said confidently.

"You're that sure?" Blaise cocked an eyebrow.

"Please, the petrifying can't go on forever." Malfoy smirked. "It's almost the end of the year; the heir will have to strike before the end of term. What would be the point of opening the Chamber if no mudbloods died?"

"There's a reason the heir hasn't gotten caught." Blaise said in a superior tone as the Slytherins were escorted to Transfiguration. "They're intelligent."

"Longbottom would have been smart enough to make that observation, Zabini." Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"What I'm saying," Blaise pressed, "is that the heir isn't stupid enough to pull it whenever they feel like it. There's a reason all the attacks are so spread out, the heir is obviously testing it to see how close they can get to all the mudbloods."

"So what are you saying?" Malfoy drawled.

"That the next one won't die. I have no doubt there will be a next one, but the heir won't be that confident."

"Are you kidding me? Dumbledore's gone; it's only a matter of time." Malfoy said.

"You're naive, Malfoy. There's a reason you're not the heir, you'd have been caught months ago."

"Like you'd have done any better." Malfoy scoffed.

"Doesn't matter." Blaise said. "The next one isn't going to die, everyone in the castle is being far too cautious for that to happen."

"Then what do you think will happen?" Malfoy asked sceptically.

"Oh a couple more mudbloods will be petrified and then in the last few weeks, maybe during exam time-"he drew his finger across his neck.

"You're wrong." Malfoy said simply. "The next one is going to die."

"That's right. You said you bet the next one dies." Blaise said, his mouth curving in a smirk. "You still up for that bet, Malfoy?"

"Of course, Zabini." Malfoy sneered. "Five galleons?"

"You're on." Blaise smirked, holding out his hand for his _friend_ (for lack of a better word) to shake.

* * *

_The celebratory feast_

It was easy to say that Draco Malfoy was simply not happy with the turn of events. In less than one night everything seemed to have turned to custard. No mudbloods dead, no Weasleys dead, his family's House Elf got sacked, Father was humiliated, Gryffindor won the House Cup, Granger woke up, the Giant Oaf came back, Dumbledore was back, Chamber of Secrets had been closed, everyone one was in their pyjamas (which was completely informal) and worst of all, Harry bloody Potter saved the blasted day. It seemed as though everyone's favourite hero had done it again.

Yes. Draco Malfoy was having a bad day.

Unfortunately for the young Slytherin, it wasn't about to get much better.

"Hello there, Malfoy." Blaise Zabini smirked as he slid into the seat opposite Draco.

"Hi Zabini." Draco replied sullenly.

"Not that happy are you?" Zabini asked, a hint of mischief in his dark eyes.

"What ever gave you that impression, Blaise?" Draco said sarcastically.

"You'd better get your act together or people will actually believe that you're unhappy that the Heir of Slytherin has been captured." Zabini said seriously. "Not your best idea if you don't want people suspecting you of anything."

"Sorry, Zabini, I suppose you'll know all about it." Draco snapped.

They fell into a silence, Draco stabbing his potatoes with a bit more venom than was required.

"Why are you even here, Zabini?" Draco asked after a minute or so.

"I'm just here to collect my winnings." Zabini said with a smirk.

"Winnings? What winnings?"

"'I'm quite surprised haven't all packed their bags by now,'" Zabini drawled in an uncanny impression of the Malfoy heir. "'Bet you five galleons the next ones dies. Pity it wasn't Granger...' Does that ring any bells?"

Draco's face turned sour as he recalled his words and the bet that followed.

"Of course." He said, trying his best to sneer. "Here you go Zabini, buy yourself a scarf to cover up that hideously long neck of yours." Crabbe and Goyle guffawed from their places on either side of Draco.

"Charming, truly charming." Zabini bit back. "Maybe I should just let you keep the money so you can buy yourself some more hair gel. Salazar knows you use a goddamn bottle every day."

Malfoy scowled at the other boy as he left the table to go back to his usual spot opposite Theodore Nott.

No. Today really wasn't his day.

* * *

**Author's note: Malfoy really needs to stop challenging people to bets when he thinks no one will pick up on it. **

**Much quicker update this time than last time (although the chapter s quite short), so I hope you enjoy that. **

**Thanks, as always, for the lovely reviews. They make my day.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	28. The Weasley Siblings

**I've been meaning to do a Weasley Siblings bet for ages (especially since a bunch of you voted for it on the poll) but I didn't get very far with my original bet idea. However today this idea came along and I quite liked it. I hope you guys do too. **

**I wasn't sure how much older Bill and Charlie are supposed to than the rest of their siblings so I looked it up. These were the ages on Harry Potter Wiki.**

**Ages: Bill 17, Charlie 15, Percy 11, Fred and George 9, Ron 7, Ginny 5 (pre Bill's 7****th**** year, Charlie's 5****th**** and Percy's 1****st****).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley_

* * *

All Bill Weasley was trying to do was finish his potions essay for Professor Snape. Don't ask him what made him take Potions at N.E.W.T level; he'd regretted it ever since he stepped into his first class of sixth year. Anyway, all he wanted to do was to finish his summer homework. He knew Snape would give him detention for a month if it wasn't done and seeing as it was Ginny's 6th birthday in a couple of days and tomorrow Uncle Bilius was arriving for a visit for the rest of the holidays, Bill had to finish his homework _tonight_. Merlin knows he'd never get any work done when Uncle Bilius was here and as previously implied, Snape would _murder_ him if he didn't finish it. As much as Bill hated his homework, he really didn't think it was anything to die over.

"Bill!" A loud moan came from his bedroom door and Bill turned around to see his 7 year old brother standing there.

"What's the matter Ron?" Bill asked his youngest brother, trying to be patient.

"Fred and George took Percy's glasses and they're running around with them, Percy's trying to catch them but he keeps falling over everything because he can't see properly, they won't give them back and Percy's getting really angry." Ron said at a rather alarming speed. "I thought you could help."

"Of course I can, Ronnie." Bill said, not really needing an excuse to get out of Potions homework, as he followed his little brother out of the room.

"Don't call me Ronnie." Ron huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But I've always called you 'Ronnie'." Bill told him.

"Alright." Ron said. "But only you can! I don't like it when Fred and George call me that."

"I'll tell them not too."

"Thanks, Bill." Ron said as he looked at his big brother with absolute adoration.

The two walked down to the living room where the chaos was. Fred (he assumed it was Fred by the way he stood, it was one of the slight differences between the twins) was standing on one side of the living room, Percy's glasses dangling off one of his fingers, taunting Percy. George was a few paces to the left of Fred, grinning like his twin as he waited for the moment when Fred would undoubtedly throw the glasses in his direction. Percy was glaring at Fred, his face flushed from chasing his younger brothers around. Charlie was lying on the couch, his propped up by a pillow, watching the scene take place while munching on an apple. Ginny was sitting on Charlie's legs, giggling as she watched her brothers.

"Give them back!" Percy shouted, his voice becoming hoarse from all the yelling. It was a surprise that Bill didn't hear it up while in his room. Actually, it was a surprise their Mum hadn't heard from where she was gardening outside.

"Why, Perce?" Fred grinned wickedly. "It's not like you need them."

"I can't see you prats!" Percy roared as he made a lung at Fred who quickly dodged out of the way, laughing.

Ron tugged on Bill's arm.

"Can you make them stop, please?" he asked, looking up at Bill again with bright blue eyes.

Bill nodded. "Alright guys, that's enough, give Perce his glasses back." Bill yelled over the twins' laughter, Ginny's giggles and Percy's shouting.

"Such a killjoy, William." George said as Fred reluctantly handed the glasses back.

"It's not like it was hurting him." Fred said as Percy's jammed his glasses frustratedly on his face.

"I couldn't see, you lunatics. I could have tripped over something and _died_." Percy said melodramatically.

"Stop being a Drama Queen, Perce." George said. "You're too boring to die first out of all us."

"You'll probably end up dying at home alone long after we've all snuffed it, with no one there except a couple of cats." Fred said.

"Don't be mean, guys." Bill said as Percy opened his mouth to retort.

"Of course, it's more likely that you two will die first by getting yourself into some criminal activity." Percy snapped, glaring at the twins.

"Of course not, it'll be Charlie." Bill rolled his eyes. "When he goes off chasing bloody dragons."

"It's a perfectly acceptable career choice." Charlie huffed.

"No, he'll die when Mum finds out he wants to work with Dragons." Ginny grinned.

"You're right there, Gin." Bill said as he picked up his little sister into a hug.

"Well I think it'll be Ginny." Ron said, entering the conversation for the first time. "Remember when she kept that spider as a pet?" Ron shuddered. "She'll find another one and it will kill her."

"Don't be stupid." Charlie said. "Spiders don't kill anyone."

"That's what you think." Ron muttered under his breath.

"Nah, it'll be Bill." Fred said. "Trying to impress a _girl_." He said the word like it was a contagious disease. "He'll do something incredibly stupid like jump off a cliff or something to impress her."

"Who was that girl you were with last week anyway, Bill?" George asked as his twin made kissy faces at Bill.

"None of your business, you little twerps." Bill said, his face going bright red.

"You guys are all ridiculous; it's clearly Ron that'll die first." Charlie said exasperatedly.

"What?" Ron asked, his face going pale.

"You're the same age as Harry Potter, aren't you?" Charlie said. "And you're a Weasley so you're going to be in Gryffindor and I'd bet my broomstick Harry Potter will be as well. He saved us all from You-Know-Who, there's not a more Gryffindor-like act! So you'll end up befriending him and he'll get you into all sorts of dangerous situations and that's how it'll happen."

"Is this before or after Ginny marries him?" Percy said sarcastically. Fred and George tried not to smile in amusement.

"Shut up!" Ginny yelled, going extremely red in the face. "I don't like him!"

"Well we still think it'll be Bill." Fred said defiantly.

"Obvious, really." George shrugged in agreement.

"A chocolate frog says that it's actually Ron." Charlie smirked.

"My chocolate's on Charlie." Bill challenged.

"It's obviously the twins." Percy rolled his eyes. "A chocolate frog on them."

"It's Ginny, with the spider." Ron said.

"You're all on!" Fred grinned.

"Wait, that means I'm stuck with Percy!" Ginny whined.

"You can't bet, Gin. You're too young." George said.

"And too girl." Fred added.

"I want to bet too."

"You're not allowed, Gin. Mum would get mad at us." Charlie told her.

"I'm betting and you can't stop me!" Ginny said defiantly, glaring at each of her brothers in turn.

"Alright Gin." Bill said reluctantly. "But you can't tell Mum."

"I won't." Ginny grinned; extremely pleased her brothers included her for once. "Although I guess it means I'm putting a chocolate frog on Percy."

"It's a bet then!" The twins exclaimed.

* * *

_Sometime in 1998_

Bill Weasley made his way to the cemetery one cold Sunday morning. Hands in his pockets, he moved slowly towards the place he was headed. The gravestone he was headed. Tears pricked his eyes as they always did when he came here. He always came alone though, he liked it better. As much as they were a family, to him at least (and definitely George as well) coming to the cemetery was a personal thing.

Tears really began to form in his eyes as he reached the grave he was looking for. The name _Fred Gideon Weasley _was written in a rather elegant script, which seemed odd, given the person for whom the grave was for.

While looking at the gravestone, Bill remembered something, something he always remembered when he came to visit Fred. He's probably the only one to remember it seeing as Charlie's got a rotten memory and the others were so young at the time. But Bill remembers. He remembers doing his homework (probably for Snape, though he can't remember what it was) and Ron coming in, telling him that the twins had stolen Percy's glasses. He remembers going downstairs and telling them to knock it off. Of course, he then remembers the discussion that followed.

The first one to die. It had all been a joke at the time. None of them really thought the others would die before they were all wrinkly old men (or woman, in the case of Ginny) with a bunch of grandkids running around. Bill doesn't think any of them expected any of their siblings to die young. Yet here he was, at the grave of his younger brother. His brother who died at the age of _twenty_. It was completely inconceivable at the time to think that any of his siblings would die before him (he still found the thought unbelievable and Fred had been dead for months). Whatever he had said that day about Charlie being the first was untrue, he'd always imagined himself being the first. He was the oldest, wasn't he? He'd expected to die before all the others.

He hadn't bothered reminding the others about the bet. He knew what their reactions would be, none of them good. Percy's overwhelming sense of guilt, Charlie's horrified expression, Ron's incredibly sad eyes, Ginny's neutral expression as she tried to keep it together and George's total, absolute heart break. He didn't need to remind them of this. It wouldn't do anything productive. So he'd keep it to himself. He wouldn't tell anyone.

But he'd probably slip Percy an extra chocolate frog that Christmas.

* * *

**Author's note: Another incredibly sad ending, why does this always happen? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! School's been incredibly busy at the moment so I'm having trouble getting updates out. I'm not giving up on this story though, so I'll try and update as soon as possible.**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews, they're really appreciated!**

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**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	29. Fred and George W III

**I was thinking of the bet Fred and George make in the Order of the Phoenix movie and wanted to do something similar to that. So that's where this bet stems from. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The bolded text taken out of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' is J.K Rowling's and therefore does not belong to me. **

* * *

_Fred and George Weasley, 6__th__ Year (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)_

* * *

Fred and George Weasley had made it back to the Gryffindor Common Room shortly after midnight on the night of the Yule Ball. Both Angelina and Katie, their respective ball dates, had gone ahead and were presumably up in the girls' dorms. Fred and George were about to head up to bed themselves when they heard a shout from behind them.

"Who I go to the ball with has absolutely nothing to do with you, Ron!"

Smirking, the twins turned around to see their youngest brother glaring at his friend, Hermione Granger. They'd suspected Ron might have had some more than platonic feelings for his friend for a while now, but hadn't said anything. It was always more fun to watch Ron screw up.

"Of course it does!" Ron snarled.

"How?" Hermione shouted, her voice rising in both pitch and volume as she rounded on Ron.

"You can't go to the ball with the _competition_." Ron yelled back.

"He's not the 'competition', Ron, he-"

"He's against Harry, isn't he? He's from Durmstrang, Hermione. He's playing you." Ron snapped.

More and more people were watching the two fourth years fight now, they had stopped on the edges of the battlefield, watching the two friends who had stopped in the middle of the common room. Gasps escaped open mouths, sniggers evaded lips and snorts flee from surrounding noses.

"He's _what_?" Hermione shrieked.

"A sickle on Hermione." Fred muttered.

"Deal." George replied.

"Just because he's from another school does not mean that he's _playing_ me." Hermione yelled, her face a blotchy red. "I don't know why you even _care_."

"Because you're my friend! I don't want some bloke coming in and hurting you!" Ron shouted.

"So you're trying to protect me?" Hermione shouted incredulously.

"Of course I am!" Ron retorted.

"**Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.**

"**Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?"**

"**Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"**

**Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. **

George groaned as he handed a sickle to his brother.

"He could have come up with something!" He said miserably. "Surely he's not that stupid."

"This is Ron we're talking about." Fred reminded him, pocketing the sickle. "Of course he's that stupid."

"Yes, well, he should have thought of me and my sickles before he went started losing me bets!" George said as they climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories. "I always thought I could count on my brothers, and look at that, I can't."

"You'll get over it." Fred grinned, to which his twin smiled back.

* * *

**Author's note: Ok, that was really short. I hope you enjoyed it regardless. And I hope you enjoyed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 which I have now seen twice and absolutely adored it. Neville Longbottom is just a complete BAMF. **

**Thanks for all your reviews. Sorry about the late replies on a lot of them. I'm really bad at stuff like that.**

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**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	30. Charlie W and N Tonks

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks, 4th Year_

* * *

It was a sunny day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the April sun shining over the crowds of students who were making the most of this weather. With exams coming up soon, all anyone wanted to do was enjoy the sunshine while they could, before they were forced back into long hours of revision. And at the edge of the lake sat two friends laughing. Well, one of them was laughing, the other...not so much.

"Tonks! Stop laughing!" Charlie whined, red in the face, as his friend laughed loudly next to him.

Charlie Weasley, caught between looking embarrassed because of the girl next to him and looking wistfully over to a group of girls about 20 metres away, and Nymphadora Tonks, her hair dark auburn today, laughing hopelessly at her friend.

"I mean it, stop, please!" Charlie said, his face now set in a deep crimson, his ears scarlet.

"I'm sorry...Charlie..." Tonks wheezed through her loud laughs. "But that is...fucking...hilarious!"

"No it's not!" Charlie said rather defensively, crossing his arms over his chest, looking rather like a child.

Tonks eventually stopped laughing, although it took a few minutes. Finally, she turned to Charlie.

"Sorry, but you really think that you have a shot with Erica Stimpson?" Tonks sniggered.

"I don't see why not." Charlie huffed, looking anywhere but at Tonks.

"I'm sorry Charlie, but I just don't see it." Tonks said kindly.

"Why not?" Charlie challenged.

"Because she's out of your league." Tonks shrugged. "There's no nice way to say it. She's gorgeous, popular and intelligent. Not to mention at least a dozen boys are in love with her." She added as an afterthought.

"Doesn't mean I don't have a chance." Charlie huffed.

"Yeah, it does." Tonks said consolingly, laying a hand on her friends shoulder. "I wouldn't be kind of me to give you false hope so you end up making a fool of yourself."

"Well I'll show you, Nymphadora Tonks." Charlie said, his face suddenly set with determination. "I bet you 15 sickles that if I ask Erica Stimpson out, she will say yes."

"You really want to do that, Charlie?" Tonks asked, looking over to where Erica was sitting with her friends.

"Yes, you bet I do." Charlie said, face set.

"Alright, if you like giving me your money." Tonks shrugged, holding out her hand for Charlie to shake.

"Not going to happen." Charlie said, shaking her hand and stalking over to Erica Stimpson.

"Gryffindors," Tonks rolled her eyes as she watched Charlie go, "bloody idiots."

* * *

It wasn't a very happy Charlie Weasley that walked back over to Tonks five minutes later. Actually, it was a rather dejected Charlie Weasley that sat down next to his friend by the lake.

"She said no." Charlie said, looking glumly at the Giant Squid whose tentacles were breaking the surface of the black lake.

"Don't worry about it, Charlie." Tonks said kindly. "There are plenty more where she came from, better ones actually."

Charlie looked at her sceptically.

"Honestly, she's too tall, it's unnatural." Tonks told him. "Her eyes are also really small and a really ugly brown. Seriously, it's disgusting. You'd want to vomit if you looked at them for too long, it's really a good thing she said no."

The corners of Charlie's lips twitched.

"Did I mention she's a giggler?" Tonks groaned. "They're the worst! Always giggling and gossiping like it's the only thing they can do. It probably is, when I think about it. They're not good for much."

Charlie actually smiled as Tonks went on explaining the many imperfections of Erica Stimpson. He knew most of them were false and that Tonks actually got on reasonably well with Erica, but he appreciated her effort all the same.

"You forgot the massive zit on her cheek." Charlie said, giving a small smile to Tonks.

"Did I? How silly of me." Tonks said. "There's that as well, I also heard that she's got a mole on her butt shaped like a pig. Did you know that?"

Charlie started laughing, he couldn't help it. It wasn't much later that Tonks joined him. The two spent the next hour or so laughing, just forgetting everything that was worrying them and just finding humour in the stupidest things. It was quite sad for the pair when the sky started getting darker. The two friends got up from their spot by the lake and made their way up to the large castle for dinner, not even looking at Erica and her friends who were leaving at just the same moment.

"Did I tell you about what happened with Ron last week? Mum sent me an owl." Charlie asked Tonks as they walked up the stone steps.

"No, I don't think you did." Tonks said.

"Well, apparently the twins were annoying him-"Charlie explained.

"As usual." Tonks grinned; she'd had the Weasley Family dynamics explained to her many a time by Charlie.

"As usual." Charlie agreed. "But anyway, they must have annoyed him a lot because the next thing Mum knew, they were purple."

"Purple?" Tonks chuckled. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously." Charlie grinned. "First piece of magic too, Mum and Dad were dead proud."

"That's wicked." Tonks said. "Beats my first bit of accidental magic."

"What did you do?" Charlie asked.

"Emptied the whole bag of fish food that was on the top of the book shelf into the tank." Tonks explained as they entered the Great Hall.

"Why?" Charlie grinned.

"They looked hungry." Tonks shrugged. "They all died from over eating, but there you go."

Charlie laughed.

"Well I'll see you later, Charlie." Tonks said. They had reached the Hufflepuff table, and Jason Bones was waving at Tonks, indicating the seat he had saved for her.

"See you, Tonks." Charlie smiled. "Thanks for cheering me up."

"What are friends for?" Tonks returned the grin.

"Well I do owe you 15 sickles now." Charlie admitted. "So here you-"

"Keep them." Tonks said.

"What? Why?" Charlie asked, looking confused.

"Don't need them, or want them." Tonks shrugged. "Anyway, you already got rejected by Erica Stimpson; you need the extra money to buy yourself some chocolate."

"Cheers, Tonks." Charlie grinned.

"S'alright Charlie." Tonks shrugged again. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah." Charlie agreed and he made his way to the Gryffindor table where he was hailed by his fellow fourth years.

Considering he'd been rejected by one of the most popular girls at Hogwarts, he didn't feel too bad. All thanks to Tonks, he supposed.

* * *

**Author's note: I do realise it went a bit off topic at the end, but I sort of liked it. I think it showed Charlie and Tonks's friendship as well as just the bet. Plus it was really short without it.**

**Thanks again for all your reviews; they mean the world to me (even if I sound like a broken record saying it).**

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**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	31. Sirius B and Remus L II

**Another Marauders chapter for you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, 6th Year_

* * *

"What do you reckon Gryffindor's chances are for the house cup this year?" Sirius asked his friend as the two sat in the Gryffindor Common room one Thursday evening.

"Depends on how many points you and James decide to lose." Remus replied, not looking up from the Astronomy essay he was writing.

"True, true." Sirius conceded, then looked over at what Remus was doing. "Why are you doing Astronomy again? You know everything there is to know about the moon."

"It's not just about the moon, Sirius." Remus said exasperatedly.

"I know, I got an Outstanding in my O.W.L." Sirius waved his hand impatiently. "I think my real question is: why are you overloading yourself with all the subjects you're taking?"

"What do you mean?" Remus said absently, scratching his nose with the end of his quill.

"Remus," Sirius said, pulling the quill out of his friend's hand, forcing Remus to look up at him, "you're doing every single subject you can."

"Your point?" Remus asked, raised eyebrow.

"Mate, Moony, you're doing Transfiguration, Potions, Defence, Charms, Herbology, Astronomy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. The only ones you aren't doing are Muggle Studies and Divination and I bet you'd do those if you could!"

"Of course I wouldn't." Remus said, snatching the quill back and continuing with his work. "Divination is a load of bullshit, everyone knows that."

"Hey! I took that class thank you very much!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Yes, but that was to annoy your mother." Remus pointed out.

"She hates Seers." Sirius shrugged. "Anyway, my point is that you are doing too much!"

"I haven't the foggiest idea of what you are talking about." Remus said determinedly.

"Come on, Moony, you've got 7 essays, a bunch of rune translations and a Thestral sketch to do by Friday and it's only the fourth week. You're putting too much pressure on yourself!" Sirius exclaimed. "You're going to explode one day and it's going to be me, Prongs and Wormtail that have to deal with it."

"Always the selfless one, aren't you Padfoot?" Remus said dryly.

"Well I like to think so, but anyway," Sirius said. "You shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself!"

"Sirius Black, when you're a werewolf and have next to zero employment opportunities when you leave school, you can tell me what to do, until then, sorry but I don't care." Remus hissed.

"Oh come on, Moony, you know yourself that it's too much for you to handle!" Sirius said.

"Sirius you are not me, you do not know how much I can handle." Remus snapped, eyes still glued to his parchment.

"Of come off it." Sirius scoffed. "I've been your friend for over five years now; I like to think that I know you pretty well."

Remus didn't respond.

"Whatever, forget I said anything." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Just don't come crying to me when you have a break down when you realise you're _doing too much_!"

Remus didn't verbally respond to that either, although Sirius could see that he was biting his lip in an attempt to stop himself having a go at Sirius. But he still didn't speak and Sirius apparently had nothing to say that he didn't think would anger the werewolf further, so they stayed in silence for a few minutes, Remus still writing his essay and Sirius staring into the fire next to them.

"Moony, you work too hard!" James said as he flopped into the seat next to Sirius.

Remus looked up in time for him to see Sirius's smug grin.

"I've been told." Remus said shortly, returning to his work.

"You really shouldn't push yourself so much, you'll explode!" Another smug grin from Sirius sent in Remus's direction at James's words.

"I'm fine, James." Remus said and his tone must have been quite threatening because James decided not to push the subject.

It was then that James and Sirius started talking about Quidditch, more specially the latest match between the Kestrels and the Tornadoes, and Remus moved on from Astronomy to Charms.

"Hey guys!" Peter joined the group at last and took his seat next to Remus.

"Where've you been, Pete?" James asked.

"The library." Peter explained. "I needed to find some information for that essay on Dementors for Professor Brown."

"Oh, I've got some in a book in my bag." Remus said, gesturing to his bag with his left hand.

"Yeah, because that'll be easier to find than if I look in the library." Peter said sarcastically as Sirius and James laughed.

"What'd you mean?" Remus said absently, not really listening.

"You've got a million books in that thing, Moony; I'm surprised you don't collapse carrying it." Peter said. "Honestly, you work way too hard. You really shouldn't push yourself that much, you'll explode."

Remus looked up to glare at all three of his friends as Sirius started laughing.

"Clearly, it's not just me that thinks it, Moony." Sirius said through his bark-like laughs. James grinned as well.

"What?" Peter asked. "I feel like I'm missing something."

"Apparently all of us said the same thing to Moony: that he's doing too much." James smirked.

"And that we all think he'll explode by the end of the year and take all of his stress out on us." Sirius added.

"I'm not going to explode." Remus said through gritted teeth. "I'm perfectly capable of handling this workload."

"I give you until March before you go badshit crazy on us." Sirius smirked, a challenge written clearly in his tone.

"Five galleons?" Remus asked.

"Deal."

* * *

_February 25th_

Remus Lupin was not having a good week. No sir, he was not.

On Monday he had blown up his third cauldron in Potions, ended up going to the Hospital Wing to check for side effects and therefore missed an important lesson on Conjuration in Transfiguration which was bound to come up in his exam at the end of the year. Not to mention he was still recovering from the Full Moon which had been that Saturday.

Monday had also given him an avalanche of homework. An essay for every single subject had that day, on top of 2 other essays he hadn't managed to finish over the weekend.

Tuesday wasn't much better. Having stayed up until 2am finishing some essays, he wasn't very alert and ended up getting told off at least 3 times for not listening in class; causing him to lose a total of 15 points for Gryffindor (he was just glad it wasn't a detention). Thankfully, there was only one new bit of homework (a set of questions for Charms) but then he still had 6 of his essays.

Wednesday was worse than Tuesday. Another couple of essays and then prefect duty, causing him to stay awake well into Thursday morning. On top of that, he'd had a lecture from the Head Boy about his responsibilities and had to monitor some bratty second years that had to stay inside at break because of the weather. Plus, while hurrying to Ancient Runes, he'd run smack-bam into current crush, Emma Fitzgerald, knocking her over and sending him into an extremely embarrassed state.

Thursday was another Monday: a lot of homework, blasting James's eyebrows off in a Defence Against the Dark Arts accident and being late for Potions.

Safe to say, by Friday, Remus Lupin was not feeling his best.

"Don't speak to me." Remus said menacingly as Sirius sat down next to him in the common room at about 6 o'clock Friday evening.

"Are you coming down to dinner with us?" Sirius asked.

"I said don't speak to me." Remus snapped.

"Just telling you that you should get some dinner." Sirius said, raising his arms in defence.

"Can't." Remus said shortly. "Got to finish this Potions essay."

"You've got all weekend to do that." Sirius reminded him. "Come on, you need to eat some food- you hardly ate any lunch."

"I told you Sirius, I'm fine." Remus said, his voice one of forced calm. "Just please, leave me alone."

"Remus, you have barely eaten anything all day, hell, all _week_. You need to eat or you will get sick." Sirius said.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, Sirius Black." Remus snapped, eyes flashing dangerously. "You do not know the stress I am under, you do not know the week that I have had so shut the fuck up and stop talking to me."

"Moony-"

"No!" Remus cut across him, his voice getting louder than before. "I do not care what you have to say. I do not care what anyone has to say. I have got too much work to be talking to anyone about whether I should be eating or working. JUST GO AWAY AND LET ME DO MY WORK!"

Sirius got up quietly and made his way to dinner. There was no talking to Remus when he was in this state.

Remus continued his work, still fuming at his friend's interference. He just needed to work, alright?

Unfortunately for Remus, Sirius returned with the other Marauders about an hour and a half later.

"Remus, we're staging an intervention." James said as he took the seat opposite his werewolf friend.

"What?" Remus said, looking up for the first time since Sirius left the room.

"We're staging an intervention." Peter repeated, sitting next to James on the couch and grabbing the quill out of Remus's hand and the parchment off the table in front of him.

"Give me my essay back." Remus snapped.

"Sorry, Moony." Sirius said, flopping down beside Remus. "Can't do that."

"And why not?" Remus asked.

"Because you're working yourself up." Sirius said simply.

"Really, Moony, you don't need to put half the effort in on all this work you do." James said.

"And because you are putting too much effort in, you're stressing yourself out." Peter explained.

"Which causes the freak out that I witnessed approximately an hour and 37 minutes ago." Sirius finished.

"I didn't freak out." Remus huffed, putting his arms across his chest.

"Yes, you did." Sirius argued. "You just need to calm down and drop a few subjects."

"I'm not dropping anything." Remus said stubbornly.

"Fine, just don't put so much work in. Just go for average, rather than perfection." James said. "That's half your problem, you think everything needs to be perfect, but it really doesn't."

"You're saying I'm a perfectionist?" Remus asked angrily.

"You _are_ a perfectionist." Peter said. "At least, when it comes to school work you are."

"You just need to sit down, relax, help us plan a prank on Snape and give me five galleons." Sirius said.

"What fo...oh." Remus said, seeing the look on Sirius's face. "I guess I kind of went badshit crazy."

"That's ok mate, happens to the best of us." Sirius grinned. "Just don't stress, alright?"

"I'll try." Remus sighed in resignation. "As long as you leave me alone when I try and do my boat load of homework."

"Deal."

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry for the wait, I've had mock exams at school which took up a load of my time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I quite liked the idea of Remus trying to overcompensate of the fact that he's a werewolf. It sort of seemed like something he would try and do to reverse his fate (even if it did him no good). **

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews! I really appreciate them.**

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**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	32. Rose W and Scorpius M

**Gemma Farley was a Slytherin Prefect in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and is therefore in either 5th, 6th or 7th year and so I'm taking creative licence and saying she was a fifth year (meaning she was in Oliver Wood and Percy Weasley's year). Basically I spent way too long trying to find a Slytherin in Oliver's year because NONE of the Slytherin Quidditch players are and I didn't want it to be inaccurate. Seriously, it's one line that I spent way too much time on.**

**I realised when I thought of the idea for this one that I'd never done a Rose and Scorpius one and so many of you wanted one, so here it is!**

**NB: Thanks to Sabriel1317 and Ember Nickel who both pointed out a very important error that I'd made. Granger-Weasley should have been 1991, not 1971. I've now changed it but if you read it before, I'm really sorry for the confusion!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy, 1st Year_

* * *

It was something that seemed to happen a lot in Professor Flitwick's first year Charms class. Whether the short Charm's Professor did it on purpose, no one would know, but for whatever reason, a lot of people who despised each other ended up paired together for this particular lesson. Who could forget the famous Black-Evans incident of 1971, or the Farley-Wood catastrophe of 1987? Then of course there was the infamous Granger-Weasley disaster of 1991 and the Bones-Lupin debacle of 2009. And for whatever reason that fate, destiny, Flitwick's evil mind, would have it, 2017 was the year of the Malfoy-Weasley fiasco.

"Professor, with all due respect, I refuse to be partnered with Malfoy." Rose Weasley told her Professor once he assigned the partners for Halloween's annual lesson on levitating a feather.

"Professor Flitwick, I will not be paired with Weasley." Scorpius Malfoy told his Professor firmly.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Weasley, you have been paired together and if you do not do your work you will both receive detention." Flitwick squeaked.

Rose and Scorpius shot each other disgusted glares and sat together at one of the pairs of desks.

"Now remember, class, the wrist movement we've been practicing. Swish and flick. Make sure the magic words are said properly, it is extremely important." Flitwick squeaked at them. "Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Pulling out their wands, the disgruntled pair of Weasley and Malfoy stayed silent. Everyone else had already started their incantations, although none had been successful. Rose and Scorpius eyed each other carefully, silently challenging each other, daring the other to go first.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Weasley, please start your work." Professor Flitwick told them from the other side of the room.

"Yes, Professor." They said together.

"You first, Malfoy." Rose said, glaring at her partner.

"Ladies first." Scorpius shot back.

"Exactly, your turn." Rose countered.

"You don't think I can do it, do you?" Scorpius asked.

"I know you can't." Rose replied.

"10 sickles say I get it on the first try." He challenged.

"Oh in your dreams." Rose scoffed.

"So I take that as you accept the bet."

"You're on."

* * *

_Five minutes later_

"Malfoy, no matter how long you stare at the feather, it's not going to make it levitate." Rose said, her voice filled with amusement.

"I know that." Scorpius snapped. "I'm just focussing."

"Staring at the feather does not make it any more likely that you'll succeed." Rose said, leaning back on her chair.

"You'll see." Scorpius said, still staring intently at the feather in front of him.

"Doubt it." Rose muttered under her breath.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Scorpius said, pointing his wand at his feather. Immediately the feather began to rise in the air. Everyone in the class turned to watch it, seeing as it was the only one that had managed that feat. Flitwick himself looked extremely impressed.

"Well done, Mr Malfoy!" Professor Flitiwick squeaked. "Five points to Slytherin, excellent work!"

Once everyone went back to their work, Scorpius lowered the feather back onto the desk. He turned his face for the first time to see his partner's reaction. Rose's mouth was open in a comical 'O' shape, her eyes staring at the feather Scorpius had just levitated on his first try. He smirked in triumph. 1-0 to Malfoy.

"10 sickles I get in on my first try too." Rose said as soon as she'd recovered from the shock.

"No way!" Scorpius scoffed.

"Why not?" Rose demanded.

"Because I, unlike you, am not stupid." Scorpius snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose said, her voice rising.

"That you're stupid." Scorpius smirked.

"You're a prat, Malfoy." Rose spat. "And you're being completely unfair. I took your bet, so take mine."

A couple of other pairs turned away from their work to watch the pair. Scorpius was still smirking while Rose's face had gone red.

"I'm not stupid." Scorpius repeated calmly.

"Malfoy, stop implying that I'm stupid." Rose snapped.

"But you are, at least when it comes to betting."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked aggressively.

"I know you'll get it on the first try, there's no question about it." He said simply, Rose went from being angry to being simply stunned at the almost-compliment he had given her. "So I'm not going to waste my money on something I know I'll lose."

"But how does that make _me_ stupid?" Rose asked, still stunned at the compliment, handing over the silver.

"I knew I'd get it on the first try too." Scorpius said arrogantly. "And you made a huge mistake: never underestimate your enemy."

After that day, she never did.

* * *

**Author's note: Another short one! I hope you enjoyed it. I've been meaning to do a Rose and Scorpius one for a while.**

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews; they mean the world to me.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	33. Dirk C and Dean T

**I have no idea when Dirk Cresswell's birthday was, nor what day he died so I took the liberty of making it up (although according to HP wiki, the year of birth is correct). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The bolded text taken out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows belongs to J.K Rowling. **

* * *

_Dirk Cresswell and Dean Thomas (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)_

* * *

"**Hard to help a boy who's vanished off the face of the earth," said Dirk.**

"**Listen, the fact that they haven't caught him yet's one hell of an achievement," said Ted. "I'd take tips from him gladly; it's what we're trying to do, stay free, isn't it?"**

"**Yeah, well, you've got a point there," said Dirk heavily. "With the whole of the Ministry and all their informers looking for him, I'd have expected him to be caught by now. Mind, who's to say they haven't already caught and killed him without publicising it?"**

"**Ah, don't say that, Dirk," murmured Ted.**

**There was a long pause filled with more clattering of knives and forks. When they spoke again it was to discuss whether they ought to sleep on the back or retreat back up the wooded slope. Deciding the trees would give better cover, they extinguished their fire, then clambered back up the incline, their voices fading away.**

"All I'm saying, Dirk," Dean said as the group made their way up into the trees, "is that I reckon Harry's still on run and working out a way to get us out of this mess."

"It'd be nice to think that, wouldn't it, kid?" Dirk smiled, almost condescendingly, at his young companion. "Point is, at a time like this, you've got to look at the facts."

"What facts, Dirk?" Ted asked.

"Like I said before, no one's seen him since the Bill Weasley's wedding, if he was even_ there_." Dirk said.

"He was there." Ted told him.

"How'd you know that?" Dean asked him. "I haven't heard from Harry since the end of last year and we were in the same dormitory."

"You hear about the fight the Order had over Little Winging with a bunch of Death Eaters?" Ted asked Dirk and Dean.

"Yeah, it was on Potterwatch about a month ago, wasn't it? They were doing a recap of all the events the Ministry didn't publish before You-Know-Who came to power." Dean said. "What about it?"

"Potter was there." Ted said. "He came to mine and Dromeda's place for a Portkey to the Burrow. So if those two friends of his were at the Wedding, I'd bet a school of that salmon that he was there too."

"Ron would have been there," Dean assured the other men, "it was his brother's wedding, wasn't it?"

"Who knows?" Dirk said dismally. "Hard to know these days."

"Doesn't change the fact that if Harry is out there, I know he'll be doing something." Dean insisted.

"How'd you know that?" Dirk asked sceptically.

"Because I know Harry." Dean told him. "Known him for over six years and if there's one thing I've learnt it's that Harry Potter does not give up and let evil walk around."

"You're that sure?" Dirk asked him as they continued to trudge through the trees.

"Of course I am." Dean rolled his eyes. "Have you ever met Harry?"

"Can't say that I have." Dirk conceded. "But you're 100% sure he's working on a plan?"

"Trust me, the Harry Potter I know wouldn't just run away. He's saved countless people for no reason before." Dean insisted. "Even if they weren't in real danger."

"I'm not convinced." Dirk shrugged. "No one's stupid enough to try something with the Death Eaters in charge."

"You don't know Harry." Dean replied.

"Alright kid, I'll bet you 5 galleons that Potter isn't doing anything to help." Dirk said, holding out his hand to Dean.

"Then I'll bet you 5 galleons he's working on a plan to get us out of here." Dean replied, shaking the hand in front of him.

"Good luck, kid." Dirk said. "I sure hope you're right.

And with that they continued searching for a good place to sleep.

* * *

_Late May 1998 _

"What're we doing here, again?" Seamus Finnigan asked his best friend as they made their way through the graves that had been set up for all the war casualties.

"I'm looking for someone." Dean said quietly, searching the names on the headstones in front of him.

"But we've passed all the Hogwarts students ages ago," Seamus said, looking completely bewildered. "You're in the Ministry of Magic section!"

"I know where I am." Dean replied. "I didn't concuss my head _that_ badly."

"Just making sure." Seamus shrugged. "You gave me a right scare."

"And you, me." Dean replied. "Your face when I first you before the battle!"

"Can't really be helped." Seamus shrugged again. "Who're you looking for?"

"Dirk Cresswell, ex-Head of the Goblin Liaison office." Dean said, making his way past Charity Burbage's grave.

"That was the bloke you were on the run with!" Seamus exclaimed.

"How'd you know that?" Dean asked him, turning away from the graves.

"It was on Potterwatch." Seamus said darkly. "Worst day of my life, hearing that the group of people you were with were killed and no one knew if you were too."

"Can't say it was my best day either." Dean attempted a smile that ended up a grimace.

"Yeah..." Seamus trailed off.

Dean continued to walk along the line of graves, looking sadly at each one he passed. The place was completely deserted except for himself and Seamus. Percy Weasley's sobbing form had left about five minutes after they had started searching.

"Here he is." Dean muttered, almost to himself.

"Do you want me to leave you for a minute?" Seamus asked him, watching his best friend carefully.

Dean nodded and Seamus walked back along the row towards the Hogwarts students, wanting to say goodbye to a few of them. He hadn't seen Colin's grave yet and he knew it was something he had to do.

Dean looked at the grave stone in front of him.

_Dirk Cresswell, _it read.

_BORN 23 __SEPTEMBER 1960_

_DIED 25 MARCH 1998_

_A loving father, a caring friend and an irreplaceable husband. _

"Hi Dirk," Dean said, looking sadly at the stone in front of him. "I know everyone says this but I wish you were still here. You and Ted didn't deserve to die." Tears began to form in Dean's eyes. "You really didn't. But I have to thank you, Dirk, for saving me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you and Ted." He wiped the tears that started trickling down his face. "I really wouldn't."

"I just want you to know that I'm grateful. Eternally grateful for everything you did for me while we were on the run; getting food, fighting off snatchers, making us laugh every now and again." He took a deep breath. "You were wrong though, wrong about Harry Potter." He let out a watery chuckle. "He was planning something after all, who knew? Well I did. You just save those galleons for when I'm up there with you." He gave the grave another weak smile.

"Just thanks, Dirk. Thanks for everything."

* * *

**Author's note: Well the end part ended up being longer than expected but I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	34. Fred, George and Ginny W

**Excuses for not updating on my profile. They've now got their own section because I need to use them so often.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Bolded text is taken directly from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and does not belong to me.**

* * *

_Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley, 4th/1st year (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)_

* * *

"What do you reckon is wrong with Perce?" Fred asked his younger siblings during the second week of the summer holidays.

"No idea, but whatever it is, it must be pretty serious, he hasn't even gloated about his O.W.L results." George said as he sat himself down on the chair next to his twin, opposite his younger brother and sister at the dining room table. "Well, he only gloated twice, I expected he'd gloat at least five times."

"That's so unlike him." Ginny said.

"Do you think something serious happened to him?" Ron asked worriedly.

The twins rolled their eyes at their younger brother. Ever since the incident with the Philosopher's Stone Ron had become a bit paranoid about things. They couldn't blame him, of course, but it did get tired of hearing how everything was a plot to destroy them. They very much hoped that it would fade by the time they got back to school.

"Of course not, he's still got all his arms and legs, hasn't he?" Fred said.

"Yes." Ron admitted.

"So what do you think is wrong?" Ginny asked, looking around at her older brothers.

"Not sure. Maybe he's got a good book he wanted to read." Ron shrugged.

"Maybe he's finally realised his company is not that great." Fred suggested.

"Maybe he got himself injured and doesn't want us taking the mickey out of him." George said.

"Maybe he's got a girlfriend and he _knows_ you'd take the mickey out of him."

The three youngest Weasley brothers stared at their sister for a few seconds before they all simultaneous started roaring with laughter.

"I'm serious." Ginny said indignantly.

"That's what's so funny." George said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eyes.

"As if any girl would want to go out with Percy." Fred added.

"They'd have to be off their rocker!" George continued. "Who would want to go out with perfect-"

"Pompous-"

"Prefect-"

"Percy." Fred finished and the twins started roaring with laughter again.

"Why would having a girlfriend keep Percy in his room?" Ron asked, looking away from the twins and posing the question to his younger sister.

"Sending letters? Ironing his robes? I don't know what goes on in Percy's mind. I wouldn't want to." Ginny replied. "But I think it's possible."

"Trust us, Ginny," Fred said. "No one in their right or wrong mind would go out with Percy. He's too pompous and annoying."

"How would you two know what girls look for in a guy?" Ginny asked. "You've never gone out with anyone."

Both Fred and George went slightly pink but responded nonetheless.

"We've got friends who are girls." Fred explained.

"Exactly, and we know that they'd never want to go out with Percy."

"Alicia, Katie and Angela-"Ginny started.

"Angelina." George corrected.

"-are hardly the whole female population." Ginny finished. "Percy's got himself a girlfriend."

"Impossible." Fred said. "We'd bet anything that he doesn't."

"Flying lessons." Ginny said suddenly. "You have to teach me to fly if Percy does have a girlfriend."

"No can do, Ginny." George said. "You might get hurt."

"I'm almost eleven years old!" Ginny argued. "You can't keep treating me like a little girl! I'm three years older than you when you two learnt how to fly!"

"Look, Gin, we're not betting you flying lessons but if we lose this bet, we'll de-gnome the garden when it's your turn for the next three times." Fred said.

"But if you lose, you have to it for us." George said.

"Deal." Ginny said, holding out her hand for the twins to shake. "And Ron's our witness so you don't wriggle your way out of the bet."

"Okay then." The twins said together.

* * *

**They were almost at King's Cross when Harry remembered something.**

"**Ginny – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"**

"**Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well — Percy's got a girlfriend."**

**Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head.**

"**What?"**

"**It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny.**

"**That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — you know — attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.**

"**Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.**

"**Definitely not," said George, sniggering.**

* * *

_The next summer (after they come back from Egypt)._

It was a sunny afternoon about a week before Hogwarts was meant to start again and Ginny Weasley was lying on her bed, reading a book. Totally absorbed in the novel, Ginny was completely oblivious to the world around her; the birds chirping outside the open window, Ron's singing from the shower and the loud blasts coming from Fred and George's room.

It only took one line from the novel to snap Ginny out of her own little world.

"_It reminded Samantha of the bet that she'd made with Max."_

Bet. _Bet_. Her bet with Fred and George. About Percy and his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater. The bet that she'd _won_ but hadn't collected her winnings yet. Fred and George had probably remembered but neglected to tell her, the prats. Ron had probably forgotten though, so she couldn't blame him, it wasn't his fault he was naturally an idiot. Fred and George, however, were not.

"You lost the bet." She said, walking into the twins' room like it was her own.

"What bet?" George asked, looking up from the cauldron he and Fred were sitting around.

"The one about Percy having a girlfriend." Ginny replied, hands on her hips.

"I don't remember it." Fred said nonchalantly.

"Yes, you do! You just don't want to own up." She said defiantly. "You have to de-gnome the garden when it's my turn three times."

"What? I'm sure it was only once." George said.

"Don't even try, George Weasley." Ginny snarled in voice just like her Mother's. "Have fun de-gnoming." She added cheerily and closed the door on their indignant faces.

* * *

**Author's note: I'm sorry this has taken so long. Lack of ideas mixed with my exams. Seriously, I have nine unfinished chapters for this story (well eight now) and they are just not good. Also, going to America (Wizarding World of Harry Potter here I come) on Sunday (on the 6:40am flight, yuck) so updates will probably not happen till next year.**

**SO HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY SEASON and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**On that note, I've lost the piece of paper where I wrote down all the ideas I agreed to write so if I told you that I would write a bet for you (or you have come up with a new idea for a bet) please let me know so I can write it for you! Thanks so much for sticking with me, guys.**

**Thanks also for the lovely reviews! They mean a lot.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	35. James P, Sirius B, Remus L & Peter P II

**Happy New Year! Sorry this one's a bit short but hey, that's life!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, 3__rd__ year._

* * *

"Isn't Hogsmeade fantastic?" James exclaimed as the four Marauders walked up the high street on their very first official visit into the Wizarding Village.

"You say it like we've never been here before." Peter said.

"Shh young Peter, we've never been here before in our lives, have we James?" Sirius said.

"No, of course we haven't Sirius." James agreed. "This is the very _first_ time I have ever set foot in Hogsmeade."

"Even if we hadn't been sneaking out of the castle to Hogsmeade for over two years," Remus said matter-of-factly, "you'd still have been here with your mother."

"Yeah, I saw you once, remember?" Peter said. "Holiday of our first year."

"Oh shush you two," James said, "you're ruining all the fun!"

"No we're not." Remus and Peter said together. "You two are just being more of idiots than usual." Remus added.

"We try, Remus, we try." Sirius said, throwing an arm over the young werewolf's shoulder. "Now how about we go and get ourselves a nice Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks?"

All four agreed that yes, they definitely could do with a Butterbeer before they hit Zonko's and Honeydukes (it's not like they hadn't been before, they were frequent customers at both. In fact the owner of Honeydukes, Ambrosius Flume, knew to have Remus's standard purchase of chocolate ready on the first weekend of each month when the four marauders usually snuck out to Hogsmeade).

"I'll get the drinks." Sirius said, walking over to the bar.

"I'll help carry them." Peter said, following after Sirius while James and Remus found a table for the four of them to sit at.

"It's different being here on a Hogsmeade weekend." James mused as he looked around at all the Hogwarts students filling the pub. "Feels weird."

"I can imagine," Remus nodded wisely. "Seeing as you're actually here with permission this time."

"Like I said, different." James replied, a small smile on his face. "Doesn't have the same adrenaline rush, knowing that we can't be caught."

"I always said you were insane." Remus said.

"You wouldn't like me if I wasn't." James grinned broadly.

"Sad but true." Remus agreed.

"Here we are." Sirius said putting down two steaming tankards of Butterbeer as Peter did the same with the remaining two. "We decided we'd even get one for you Remus, even if you are annoying most of the time."

"The same could be said for you." Remus said, grinning at Sirius before taking a large gulp of Butterbeer.

"I bet I could drink this thing in under 30 seconds." James said, eying his tankard almost challengingly.

"Under thirty seconds, James?" Sirius said incredulously. "It'd take me more than that and Merlin knows I'd be quicker than you."

"That's not saying much." Remus said. "You'd start laughing while you were drinking it and end up choking."

"You think you'd be able to drink a tankard of Butterbeer faster than me?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"I know I would." Remus smirked.

"Oh come off it." Peter said. "None you of would be able to finish a whole tankard, you'd be sick!"

"No we wouldn't!" The other three chorused and then turned to eye each other up, almost looking for each other's weaknesses.

"A galleon says I'll be the fastest." James said, reaching into his pocket and extracting the gold coin and throwing it on the table.

"You're on." Sirius said as Remus said "Not likely" at the same time. They too reached into their pockets.

"You'll be sick." Peter chimed in, adding his gold to the pile.

"On three?"

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

* * *

_Around five minutes later_

Needless to say it was a very happy Peter Pettigrew that opened the door to Zonko's Joke Shop, gold jingling in his pocket.

His three very ill looking friends waddled in slowly behind him.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry I've been so slack! Went to the USA, went to Christchurch, went to...that's it really but that was about 5 weeks of my holidays (back to school next week...well for three days). Also, when I was looking through the chapters I just hated my writing so it took a bit of motivation to get me to continue. **

**However, thank you for all your lovely reviews; it really is a pleasure to receive them (even if it takes me donkey's years to reply).**

**Happy 2012!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	36. Lee J and Fred W

**Oh I had a lot of fun writing this. Angelina is simply the best. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The lines in italics are taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and do not belong to me. **

* * *

_Lee Jordan and Fred Weasley, 7th Year (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

* * *

"_And it's Johnson- Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me-"_

"_JORDAN!" _

Another Quidditch game, another rejection. Such was the life for amateur Quidditch commentator, Lee Jordan. He honestly didn't know why Angelina didn't want to go out with him. They'd been friends for years and he'd liked her for years, surely it wouldn't ruin their friendship. Ah well, such was the life of a 17 year old bloke at Hogwarts. It wasn't like there weren't other pretty girls that he could and would date. He just liked Angelina the most.

"Cheer up, mate." Fred Weasley said in an unusually sombre tone as the two made their way back up to the Gryffindor common room after the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match. "At least your brother isn't getting punished by toad-face."

"True." Lee said. "Do you want to find Malfoy and hex the shit out of him? Because I'd be more than happy to help."

"No." Fred said, although he looked like he'd want nothing more than to take Lee up on his offer. "Hopefully McGonagall will see to it that he gets punished as well, the little git."

Lee didn't think it would be the best idea to tell Fred that McGonagall looked angrier at George and Harry, and that she didn't really have any authority over Malfoy; he didn't want to set Fred's already remarkably short temper off. All the worse that George wasn't here, because Fred always was the more reckless of the two (if only be a centimetre or two).

"So why do you think Angelina won't go out with me?" Lee asked, in an effort to change the topic from Umbridge, McGonagall and whatever might be happening to George while they spoke.

"You're ugly, boring and stupid." Fred joked. "I dunno, though. Maybe you're not her type?"

"Do people actually have types?" Lee asked. "The whole idea seems ridiculous to me."

"It _is_ ridiculous." Fred agreed. "But this is girls we're talking about; ridiculous by nature."

"Well it's been a few years now, I'm starting to think she'll never go out with me." Lee said gloomily. "She didn't even go to the ball with me last year."

"Yeah because she got an offer from the fittest guy she knows." Fred grinned wickedly. "I wouldn't worry about it, Ange is known for being stubborn. It'll happen."

"Thanks for the confidence and everything but I really doubt it. Maybe I should stop trying."

"Lee, I'll bet you a week's worth of profits in Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes that she'll agree to go out with you at least once." Fred said.

"Awfully giving of you." Lee said, looking at Fred suspiciously. "What'd you get if you win?"

"Naming rights to your first child." Fred said nonchalantly.

"No way!" Lee laughed. "I'm not stupid!"

"Fine." Fred said. "How about you have to be our test subject for a month?"

"Sounds fair enough." Lee grinned. "Either I get a date with Angelina or I get loads of money."

"Yeah, I'm starting to wonder what the benefit for me is." Fred said. "But I'm a man of my word so we'll shake on it."

"Can I get the bet in writing?"

"I'm hurt, Lee Jordan, hurt! I cannot believe that you don't trust me!"

"Let's just say I've known you too long."

* * *

_About a month later_

"Oh come on, Angelina." Fred said as he followed her to Potions (he didn't take the subject himself but he needed to talk to Angelina who did, in fact, take Potions).

"No, Fred, just no." Angelina said briskly.

"One date, it won't hurt anyone." Fred persisted.

"I beg to differ." she snorted.

"Lee's not _that_ bad." Fred said. "I mean, he thinks he's funnier than he is, smells a bit and has an annoying habit of talking more about sport than necessary, but other than that, he's quite a catch!"

"Fred Weasley, for the last time, I am not going on a date with Lee Jordan." She snapped, fairly so, if an impartial party were to make a judgement. Fred had been following Angelina all morning, pestering her into going on a date with Lee Jordan. Why on earth he wanted her to go out with Lee, Angelina hadn't quite figured out, but it didn't matter; Angelina knew the Weasley twins and knew that Fred was up to no good. As well as that, Angelina thought Fred had a lot of nerve asking her for anything after he got himself kicked off the Quidditch team, and she told him so.

"And anyway, as far as I'm concerned, I do not owe you any favours. You owe me plenty, considering you aren't on my Quidditch team anymore!"

"Please, Angelina, for me." Fred begged, spinning around so he was in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders and mustered up the most pathetic look he could. She wasn't buying it.

"No." She said simply as she slipped out of his grasp and made her way down the final steps to the dungeon.

"What will it take for me to get you to do it?" Fred asked her, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Angelina turned around, crossed her arms over her chest and surveyed Fred with a curious look on her face.

"What would you be willing to do for me if I agree to do it?" She countered.

"Depends on what you ask for." He returned, a smirk formed on his mouth because he realised he'd got her.

"Hmm...Well for starters you and George have to agree to not pull any pranks on me or slip me any joke items ever-"

"For the next month." Fred cut in.

"Next 10 years."

"Until we leave school."

"Until I'm 20."

"Deal."

"Then you have to pay for this date, I'm certainly not paying and it's not fair if Lee has to either."

"Fair enough." Fred shrugged. "But you can't do anything you wouldn't pay for yourself on a regular date."

"Fine." She nodded. "Then you have to do whatever I say for a week."

"One hour."

"Five days."

"One day."

"Alright, I'll take it." She said, still looking at him. "And I'll have five galleons on top of that."

"Ten sickles."

"Four galleons."

"One galleon."

"Three."

"Two."

"Okay."

"And you'll go out with Lee next Hogsmeade weekend?" Fred asked, a mischievous twinkle in his bright blue eyes.

"Why not?" Angelina said dryly and with that, turned around and walked into Snape's classroom, five minutes late.

* * *

_After the Hogsmeade trip_

"I can't believe you did that." Lee said as he sunk into a chair next to the twins in the Gryffindor common room.

"Have fun?" George asked, smirking at him.

"Of course I had fun; I've only been wanting to go on a date with her since I was 13!" Lee sighed. "I still can't believe you did that!"

"Hey, we never agreed I couldn't, new test subject." Fred smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Lee said. "I'd be scared if I were you though; Angelina's letting me help with ideas when you have to do whatever she says for a day."

"Nicely played, Jordan, nicely played."

"You too, Weasley, you too."

* * *

**Author's note: I was all excited for a few seconds because I thought I could do a scene with Fred and Lee teasing George mercilessly about marrying Angelina. Then I remembered Fred was dead; end of that plan. **

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	37. James P and Fred W

**For RavenclawSeeker19**

**NB:**** Louis is about a year older than James and Fred. I wanted him to older than that but it didn't really work if Victoire was born in 2000 and James was born (and, therefore Fred was as well, because I like the idea of them being the same age) between 2002 and 2005 (according to Harry Potter wiki at least). So in my head that means Dom's born in around 2001-2002, which would make Louis 2003-2004 which is about a year older than James if he's 2005 (but before 1 September so he's at least a year older than Al at school), all because we know Al must be 2005-2006. **

'**The Nifflers' are a Wizarding boy band. Pretty awesome stuff. 'Merlin's Socks' are a pop-rock-ish kind of band. They're cool. At least in my head they are. Oh Merlin, liking bands that I make up in my head – what has your life come to, dork, what has you life come to? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_James Sirius Potter and Fred Weasley II, 6th Year_

* * *

It was a quiet night during the summer holidays and cousins Fred Weasley and James Potter were staying with their grandparents at the Burrow. All of the Weasley/Potter clan had come over for Sunday dinner earlier that day but now it was midnight and almost all of the occupants of the house were asleep. Fred Weasley and James Potter, however, were above such an activity and were talking to each other in hushed tones, so as not to wake the rest of the household and receive a severe telling off from their grandmother.

"I'm telling you, he is." Fred told his cousin as they lay on their respective beds in Fred's Dad's old room.

"You have got to be kidding me." James snorted. "There is absolutely no way he is."

"Come off it," Fred said. "Did you not see him checking Pete out? Or what about that time we caught him staring at Tom? He likes 'The Nifflers'! He has a poster of _Henry Bones_ from 'Merlin's Socks' in his room. Face it, Louis is gay."

"Liking a boy band and having a poster of a singer does not mean that someone is gay. You like Henry Bones and I swear Al's a closet 'Nifflers' fan." James replied. "I don't care if Lou is gay but personally, I fail to see where your evidence for this comes from."

"From observation!" Fred exclaimed loudly.

"Shhhh! You'll wake Mum or Grandma up!" James hissed.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, each lost in their respective thoughts.

"He's gay." Fred effectively shattered the silence.

"No, he's not."

"He is."

"He's not."

"Is."

"Not."

"Is."

"Not."

"Is."

"Are we really going to keep going with this all night?" James asked, his tone slightly weary.

"I'll go as long as I have to because I know I'm right." Fred said smugly. "We've caught him staring at or checking out guys far too much for it to be considered a coincidence. Fact of the matter is Louis is clearly gay."

"Fact of the matter is you're clearly insane. He's going out with Marie what's-here-face." James retorted.

"I thought it was Mary."

"No, it's definitely Marie."

"Bet you he doesn't even know because I'm 100% sure he's not attracted to her, despite the fact she's fit as hell, because he's gay." Fred said.

"You willing to bet on it, Weasley?" James asked, knowing it was the only way to get Fred to stop. Plus, James knew he was right and wouldn't mind having some more money (he'd had to spend most of his buying Lily a new necklace after he dented to the one she'd got for Christmas).

"Of course I am, Potter." Fred smirked. He knew he was right and although Louis might take a while to come out, he was confident it would happen (they were a very accepting family after all and he certainly didn't see the problem with Louis being gay).

"Name your price."

"Five galleons and you have to be my personal assistant for the whole day and do whatever I want!" Fred grinned.

"You mean you'll have to be _my _personal assistant for a whole day." James corrected.

"I know what I said."

"Shake on it?"

"Yeah."

They flapped their arms around for a moment, trying to find the other's hand in the darkness. After a few minutes of trying they realised one or both of them would have to move if they wanted to shake the other's hand.

"Shake on it tomorrow? It's too comfy here, I don't want to move." James suggested.

"Brilliant idea, James, brilliant idea." Fred agreed.

* * *

_About a year later_

It was just a regular Sunday lunch at the Burrow. Regular. That's what it was. Birds were chirping merrily to one another, the hot sun was shining down on them and the dishes in front of them were full of delicious food. The whole family was talking, of course, because that's what the Weasleys do: they talk. Mrs Weasley was talking to Bill, Mr Weasley to Fred and James, Lily to Albus, Rose to Audrey and Angelina, Hermione to Harry, etc. etc.

"How's work going, Louis?" George asked his nephew. "Not working you too hard, I hope. They do that to kids just out of Hogwarts."

"You'd know!" Teddy laughed. "I worked for you the summer straight out of school."

"It's good." Louis said, grinning lazily at Teddy's comment. "Not too hard, no...pretty relaxing most of the time."

"At the Daily Prophet, Lou?" Teddy asked. "That doesn't seem quite right."

Louis shrugged. "Maybe other people get stressed out, but I find it fine."

"You always were insane." Teddy laughed.

"He was like that at school." Molly said, joining in the conversation. "I was always a mess before exams and he just breezed through it!"

"Yeah, well you're like your Dad, aren't you Molly?" George grinned. "Always was a bit of a prat around exam time, weren't you, Perce?"

"I'll have you know that I was perfectly acceptable around exam time!" Percy retorted, but a slightly sheepish grin made its way on to his face nevertheless.

"Well I think it's good that you're not too stressed, dear." Mrs Weasley told Louis. "Stress stops you eating and goodness; you're skinny enough as it is."

"It's exercise, Grandma, don't worry, I'm eating right." Louis said, gesturing to his very full plate of food.

"Good!" Mrs Weasley nodded. "No girl will ever want to go out with you if your ribs are poking out!"

"Well as I'm gay, I wouldn't really say that's much of a problem." Louis said, all grace and charm. The grace and charm that only someone who was a sixteenth veela could really pull off.

There was absolute silence at the table. Every single person had heard what Louis said and was now staring at him, open mouthed. Surprisingly, it was Mrs Weasley who managed to speak first.

"Well no boy will want to go out with you if your ribs are poking out. It's the same with all genders; you've got to eat right!" She said knowingly. "Thank you for telling us, Louis." She added, smiling tenderly at her oldest grandson.

"Yeah," Bill agreed. "You know we love you no matter what." There were many loud agreements made at that statement around the table.

"Thanks." Louis smiled.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Lou?" Hugo asked, sticking his head out to look at his cousin from down the table. It earned him a whack on the head from both Rose and Lily who were sitting on either side of him. "What?" he muttered. "Simple question."

Louis laughed. On the outside he may look calm but of course he was freaking terrified of how everyone would react. It seemed there was nothing much to worry about at the moment, with his family.

Of course, in all the commotion that followed Louis's announcement, no one noticed Fred tapping James on the shoulder. No one noticed Fred smirking as James's face fell. No one noticed as Fred held out his hand and James put five gold coins into it, cursing under his breath.

Well Angelina did, but like most things with her son and nephew, it was usually best not to ask.

* * *

**Author's note: Hello again! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was a bit tough writing this chapter, I've never written someone coming out before, nor have I ever experienced someone coming out. This is purely on what I felt would happen in this situation, with these characters and this completely wonderful family. **

**So yes! I hope you enjoyed it and thank you all for the lovely reviews and for continuing to put up with me!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	38. Ginny W and Hermione G

**For Loserslurgy who wanted Ginny and Hermione making a bet on who will get married first from when they were younger. I've added a bit onto it, so it's not just them when they're younger but I hope you enjoy it regardless!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger, 4th/5th Year (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

* * *

It was almost midnight on the night of the 24th of July and instead of being sound asleep, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley were wide awake. As Hermione was still relatively new to Grimmauld Place (she'd arrived the day before) the girls hadn't quite caught up on everything that they'd been doing over the summer (although Ginny's activities mostly consisted of decontaminating the house and calling Percy a prat).

"So have you heard from Viktor at all?" Ginny asked, a grin on her face that Hermione swore she could make out in the darkness.

"Yes," Hermione said trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible, "he wrote to me about coming to visit him and asked how my summer was going."

"So are you?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"No, my parents can't afford it and anyway, I don't think they'd be too pleased with me going to another country to stay with my eighteen-year-old male friend."

"Friend, Hermione, really?"

"Yes! Viktor is just a friend! I don't what's with you and Ron but he is. I know he wanted to be more but it just wouldn't work for me."

"Hermione, he's the best seeker in the world! He would have married you and you would have been envied by every single female on this planet." Ginny said incredulously. "How would that not work for you? Hell, if it'd been me I would have gone to Bulgaria on the spot!"

"I don't care that he's an international Quidditch player that's perfected the wonky feint, I've never cared. He was really nice but I don't know, it wouldn't have worked." Hermione replied.

"With that attitude, you'll never get married." Ginny sighed. "Viktor was fit, not to mention smart and an athlete. What more do you want, woman?"

"I don't know." Hermione said. "I'll know it when I see it."

"You'll never get married at this rate." Ginny said matter-of-factly.

"I will too!" Hermione protested. "Quicker than you, I'd say, if you're still hung up on Harry!" She added the last part teasingly.

"Pfffft..." Ginny scoffed. "I don't like him like that anymore."

"Uh-huh." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I still reckon I'll get married before you." Ginny said, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

"Sure you will." Hermione said sarcastically. "You'll need to find someone with as big a hero complex as Harry; I don't see that happening any time soon, do you?"

Ginny didn't respond. The two girls lay in the darkness, each lost in their own thoughts. Thoughts probably about big white weddings, gorgeous dress robes and the _perfect_ groom.

"Five galleons say I will." Ginny exclaimed after a minute or two.

"Five galleons say what?" Hermione asked, looking over to Ginny in the dark.

"Five galleons say I'll get married before you do. I mean, If you're going to keep turning down international Quidditch players, I can't see how you'll find anyone who lives up to that." Ginny shrugged.

"You're willing to bet on that?" Hermione asked.

"Sure am." Ginny smirked.

"Fine then." Hermione said primly. "It's a bet."

"Oooh, what'll Ron and Harry say? Goody-two-shoes Hermione Granger taking a bet!" Ginny teased.

"Oh be quiet, Ginny!"

* * *

_Five years after the war_

On a warm summer's day, Hermione Granger was standing in the kitchen of the flat she shared with her long-time boyfriend, Ron Weasley. Pouring two glasses of white wine, she sighed.

"I'm telling you, Ginny." She called out to her friend in the lounge. "It's never going to happen."

"Oh please," Ginny rolled her eyes as Hermione walked into the room, "Ron's crazy in love with you, it'll happen any day now."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Hermione said through pursed lips as she handed Ginny her glass and sat down on the arm chair opposite her. "I found the ring for Merlin's sake."

"Then shouldn't it be soon?" Ginny questioned, raised eyebrow.

"I found the ring four months ago." Hermione informed her. "So either he's got another girlfriend that he's hiding or he's way to chicken to propose."

"The latter." Ginny grinned. "I've known Ron my whole life; he's always scared of rejection. Always has been, in fact."

"You'd think after being with me for five years, he'd get the fact that I'm not going to say no." Hermione sighed.

"Hermione, this is _Ron_ we're talking about. I love my brother but seriously, he's not the best when it comes to women."

"Don't I know it." Hermione snorted. "I've got half a mind to propose to him myself."

"You should." Ginny replied. "It's the 21st century and all that jazz."

"Mmm." Hermione nodded. "I think I'll just wait, clearly he wants to do it – he just hasn't worked up the courage to do it yet. Maybe by the time we're 50." She snorted.

"Well he's going to be quicker than Harry, that's for sure." Ginny said. "We've talked about marriage and we both want it, he just doesn't seem to click that maybe a proposal would be a good way to start."

"Well that's Harry, isn't it?" Hermione grinned. "Anyway, how's work? Not getting hit with too many bludgers are you?"

Ginny laughed. "Not enough to be a serious problem, no. Though I will tell you about this one thing that happened the other day..."

* * *

_Later_

When it all came down to it, it would be hard to work out who won the bet. Ron did, in fact, propose first (eight months after he bought the ring, six since Hermione found it). A nervous, sweaty, love filled proposal on an autumn night at home. No one could deny that it happened. However it is, after all, true that Ginny got married first (Ron and Hermione agreeing in order to organise a wedding was never going to be a quick and easy task). She married Harry on a warm summer's afternoon in the garden of her parents' house.

The bet did state – no one can deny it – that it was the person to get married first who would win the bet. However, if Hermione had remembered the bet to realise it, I'm quite confident she would have put up a fight. Unfortunately, she didn't remember. Ginny didn't either. The bet stayed lost in long ago memories of Quidditch players and hero complexes.

Even if they had, it wouldn't have made much difference to the girls who made the bet, nor the women who fulfilled it.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry for the wait, not much inspiration when it came to chapters. Also super busy at school. Last year and all that nonsense.**

**Anyway, thank you so much for all the reviews! As always, they mean the world to me.**

**Also, to ****Hunter of Slytherclaw**** (your Private Messaging function is disabled so I cannot get back to you via that method of communication): I'd love to do that bet! I shall start writing it as soon as possible. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic! **

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	39. Lily P and Rose W

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Lily Potter and Rose Weasley, 3__rd__ Year/5__th__ Year_

* * *

"Oh he's going to bawl his eyes out." Lily cackled.

It was a boiling hot day in the middle of July and cousins Lily Potter and Rose Weasley were lying on the grass on their Grandparents' lawn. Neither had felt like doing anything, it was too hot to move, and so lying in the sun while drinking glasses of ice cold pumpkin juice really seemed like a good way to spend a summer's day. So here they were, relaxing, chatting, laughing.

"Nah he won't, I didn't." Rose replied.

"You're tougher than he is." Lily shrugged. "Nothing new there. He's not going to be able to handle it."

"You're being a bit unfair." Rose tried to reason. "James isn't that emotional."

"Um where have you been for the past 16 years?" Lily laughed. "And don't you dare say you were in your mother for part of it!" She added as Rose opened her mouth to retort causing the other girl to pout.

"He's not going to cry." Rose stubbornly defended.

"He cried when his toad died, he cried at Teddy and Vic's wedding and although he'd never admit it, not in a million years, he cried when his Albus accidently broke his first broomstick."

"After almost killing Al, I presume." Rose chuckled.

"Of course, what'd you take him for?" Lily said.

"Not someone who would cry at something as trivial as this – come on Lils, all of those things he had an emotional connection to. He doesn't with this." Rose reasoned.

"You obviously don't know James as well as I thought you did." Lily sighed. "Such a shame."

"Oh please, I know James." Rose rolled her eyes. "And tickets to the Merlin's Socks concert say so."

"You've got tickets to Merlin's Socks!" Lily sat bolt upright, staring wide-eyed at Rose. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh I was going to surprise you on the day." Rose smiled. "But if James cries then I'll pay for your ticket but if he doesn't then you have to pay for mine."

"Done and done." Lily grinned, sticking out her hand for Rose to shake. "I can't believe we're going to see Merlin's Socks!"

"Believe it."

"James is still going to cry."

"Shut up."

* * *

_A few days later_

"LILY!" Brown eyes narrowed dangerously, breathing heavy and flyaway black hair almost crackling with electricity, James Potter was not a happy chappy.

When James found his sister, she was reading a magazine while sitting on the deck outside, the radio blasting some new Merlin's Socks song. Where her brother had the look of a madman, she was the epitome of calm.

"What?" She asked as he towered over her.

"You didn't say what this book would do to me." James hissed. Now that she looked at him she could see the unmistakeable mark of tear tracks down his cheeks, his hair was even messier than usual and there was a deranged, crazed look in his eyes.

"Sad, isn't it?" Lily tried not to grin at her brother's state of insanity.

"Sad? That's a bit of an understatement." James exclaimed as he fell dramatically down on the chair next to her. "Amelia! What she had to go through, what she had to suffer – it was terrible!"

"Indeed." Lily said, moving her hand up to cover her mouth.

"And then Paul! You thought he was the good guy and then he just betrayed her and everyone else." James jumped up again and started pacing in front of her, continuing his rant about Paul.

Lily was trying really hard not to giggle.

"Then the _end_ with her mother! I just didn't know what to do with myself. Just...I don't know...it cannot be spoken of. It's too awful!"

Lily couldn't help it then, she burst. Fits of giggles, peals of laughter, she just could not stop.

"What?" James asked, clearly insulted.

"James...it's just...a book." Lily wheezed through her laughs.

"Just a book? _Just a book?_" James exclaimed, throwing both hands up in the air. "Lily Luna Potter you are no sister of mine!" And with that, he turned around and marched back into the house.

Lily's laughs didn't finish quickly. It was a good four minutes before she could pull herself together. Her brother's dramatics always managed to surprise her and it was just too funny to see her sixteen year old brother, a boy who was almost an adult, get so worked up over a piece of fiction.

A piece of _fiction_.

* * *

Rose received a letter less than an hour later.

_Thanks for paying for the tickets! _

* * *

**Author's note: Super short again but such is life! Hope you enjoyed it! **

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews! They mean the world so any and all are appreciated!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	40. Horace S and Minerva M

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Horace Slughorn and Minerva McGonagall _

* * *

"I am not doubting his competency, Minerva, merely that because of certain...traits, shall we say...he will never be employed."

"Rubbish, Horace. As long as Dumbledore is Headmaster I see no reason as to why his 'trait', as you so eloquently put it, would have any effect on his ability to do well."

"Minerva, my dear, you are blinded by your tolerance." Professor Horace Slughorn said lazily as he selected another piece of crystallised pineapple.

Slughorn was sitting in an armchair at the long wooden table that Dumbledore kept in the Staff Room. He had a glass of deep red wine in front of him as well as a box of the finest crystallised pineapple money could buy. Minerva McGonagall on the other hand was standing in the kitchen portion of the room, a good five or six metres away from Slughorn. That didn't stop her arguing with him though, as she waited for the water to boil.

"I most certainly am not! While Dumbledore is Headmaster and if we get a decent Minister for Magic I see no reason why he could not become a teacher!" Professor McGonagall was getting a bit worked up over the matter, her face slowly turning a blotchy red.

"Remus Lupin will never be employed in the magical world, much less as a teacher at Hogwarts." Slughorn said stubbornly.

Neither was quite sure how they got onto the topic of Remus Lupin's future career. Then again, often in arguments one forgets how they got to the point of an argument and merely concentrates on proving that they are right. McGonagall and Slughorn, esteemed Professors and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, were not exempt from this very human flaw. It might have been talking about the fifth years' chances in O. W. Ls, or the fact Mr. Lupin had blown up a cauldron in Potions that afternoon, or the fact that the self-proclaimed "Marauders" had just received detentions from Professor Yale, it didn't really matter; Slughorn and McGonagall were arguing over whether Remus Lupin would ever become a teacher.

"You are raving! The boy is polite, diligent _and exceptionally intelligent_ – there is absolutely no reason why he would not receive a job outside Hogwarts from any _decent_ witch or wizard!" Professor McGonagall, having no children of her own, often thought of the students in her house as her children. Everyone knows what a mother is like protecting her child, Minerva McGonagall, real mother or not, was no different.

"He is a werewolf, Minerva!" Slughorn said, still sitting but looking less and less relaxed each second.

"Really? I had absolutely no idea!" McGonagall snapped shrilly. "The point that I am trying to make is that as long as Albus Dumbledore is Headmaster, he will let Remus Lupin teach at this school."

"See here now, Minerva, it would be dangerous! I have nothing against the lad, it really is unfortunate that he is in this situation, but you cannot expect any rational employer to employ someone who is dangerous once a month."

"He wouldn't go to work during the full moon, Horace, and if he can live as a student at Hogwarts without hurting anyone, I fail to see why he cannot do so, as a teacher. He has -" McGonagall said.

Slughorn was taking a sip of wine and did not respond, McGonagall was past reasoning at this stage. Slughorn could sort of see why she was like this but really; Remus Lupin wasn't anything that special. He was gifted in a lot of his subjects (although definitely not Potions), was Gryffindor prefect and there was no denying the boy worked hard but...werewolf. You couldn't ignore something like that. He himself would not have let the boy come to school (Albus and his mad reasoning) and if he was an employer he would certainly never employ the boy! A werewolf! No matter how polite and diligent and _exceptionally intelligent_ the lad was, you cannot disregard the fact he turns into a monster every full moon.

"- if he sets his mind to it and wants to do something then he will achieve it, I will make sure of it!" McGonagall finished her rant defiantly just as the kettle had finished boiling and so she turned away from Slughorn momentarily (completely unaware of the fact he had tuned out and did not hear a word she said) to fix herself a cup of tea.

"We will have to agree to disagree, Minerva." Slughorn sighed. "I do not want to fight you on this matter. You will see in time, I think, that Remus Lupin's life will not be one of joy once he finishes his education."

"If you're so sure about it," McGonagall replied, more calmly than before. She still looked a bit frazzled but her voice had lost its high pitch and some of its harshness. A good cup of tea can sometimes have that effect on people. "Then how about we make a bet on it?"

"A bet? Why would we bet on something like this?" Slughorn asked, completely baffled.

"Because I believe in my students, Horace, and I want you to believe in them too."

"Very well, Minerva, if we must." Slughorn sighed, although his eyes did gleam somewhat at the prospect of gaining something from his colleague. "What are we betting?"

"Since you're so fond of it, would two years supply of crystallised pineapple suffice?"

"And what would you want in return? Ginger Newts for two years?" Slughorn chuckled.

"Sounds fair enough to me." McGonagall said and she stuck her hand out for Slughorn to shake.

"All right then, it's a bet. But don't come crying to me, Minerva, when – "

"I'll take this tea upstairs to my rooms I think. Goodnight, Horace."

* * *

_Years Later (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)_

It did not occur to Minerva McGonagall until several months into Remus Lupin's stint at Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that she had made a bet with her former colleague on the outcome of this boy's – well, man now – future. She was drinking tea with Remus Lupin himself, actually, a few days before Christmas. They were talking about the small number of students staying at Hogwarts for the holidays and whether plans for Christmas dinner would change (they carefully avoided the topic of _why_ there were so few students – most of the staff avoided talking about Sirius Black around Lupin), when Lupin let out a loud, wracking, horrible cough.

"Are you alright, Remus?" McGonagall asked, looking at him worriedly.

"I'm fine thank you, Minerva." Lupin smiled weakly. "It's not pleasant; still, it's much better than I was when I wasn't working here."

"Mmm, I can imagine." McGonagall said sadly.

That was the moment, Ladies and Gentlemen. The moment McGonagall remembered her bet with Slughorn so many years previously. When she went through the memory in her head, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Lupin looked at her, utterly nonplussed (how was him coughing funny?).

"Are you alright?" Lupin asked.

"Of course, my apologises." McGonagall answered. "I just remembered a bet I had with Horace Slughorn while you were still at school."

"What were you and Professor Slughorn betting about?" Lupin asked, intrigued.

"Oh he'd got me at a rather emotional moment," McGonagall reflected. "But I bet him that you would be a teacher at Hogwarts one day."

"Me? A teacher at Hogwarts? Why on earth would you bet something like that?" Lupin asked, completely baffled rather than intrigued now.

"To be honest, I don't quite remember why." McGonagall sighed. "But I must inform Horace, he owes me two years worth of Ginger Newts. If you'll excuse me, Remus."

With that, she got up and put her now empty cup in the sink, waving her wand to clean it before it flew back into its place. As she walked towards the door, she turned back to look at Lupin; despite the tired looking face and the grey hairs, he didn't look so different from the boy she had once vehemently defended in his wish to become a teacher.

"Make sure I give you some of the Ginger Newts, won't you, Remus?"

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry for taking so long to update. School. Supernatural. Holiday. That's my excuses this time! Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I quite liked the idea of Slughorn and McGonagall betting over something like this – although everyone seems to bet over Remus's future, don't they? Might have something to do with him being my favourite Marauder era character but he's just got such an interesting set of circumstances to play around with. Anyway, I thought of this idea while reading 'The Life and Times' by Jewels5 . READ IT. Bloody brilliant fanfic and it kind of kept me glued to my computer screen for four days straight. It's super long but so worth it! Just don't read it when you've got stuff to do.**

**Thanks for all your reviews; I really appreciate them, as always!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	41. Oliver W and Herbert F

**Because maybe there was a reason Oliver was bitter about Charlie not playing for England.**

**Also Oliver is too cute as a fanboy.**

**Herbert Fleet, according to Harry Potter Wiki was the Hufflepuff keeper in the Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup video game and I'm taking the creative licence to make him a character in the series and make him keeper at the same time as Oliver. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Bolded text taken directly out of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' and belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me. **

* * *

_Oliver Wood and Herbert Fleet, 4th Year_

* * *

At 14 years old, Oliver Wood was the most Quidditch-obsessed person currently at Hogwarts. Almost all he talked about was Quidditch (moves, positions, players, chances), almost all he did was play Quidditch and almost all his friends were Quidditch players as well. That was how he had struck up a friendship with Herbert Fleet, Hufflepuff's new Keeper. Herbert was the perfect friend for Oliver; he loved Quidditch, he was tolerant, a good listener and didn't mind that pretty much all Oliver talked about was the sport. The two spent a great deal of time predicting how certain Quidditch players were going to go in their careers and who would win the next game (which Herbert almost always lost because Oliver poured over stats for hours before making a decision). They generally had a good time together, talking about Quidditch as though it was their very reason for living (and for Oliver, it almost was).

It was the day after the first match of the season at Hogwarts (Gryffindor vs. Slytherin) and Herbert and Oliver were sitting in the Quidditch stands, eagerly talking about how the game had gone the previous day (Gryffindor had won 250 – 10).

"Charlie Weasley is fantastic!" Oliver was saying. "Did you see how well he caught that snitch? It was incredible! The way he dodged that bludger – that amazing turn!"

"Calm down, Oliver." Herbert grinned. "It was magnificent but I'm starting to think you're a bit obsessed with Charlie Weasley."

"I'm not." Oliver said, although he went a bit pink. "I just think he's a brilliant Quidditch player."

"He is, undoubtedly." Herbert agreed. "But he's not the best at Hogwarts."

"What?" Oliver exclaimed, looking horrified. "Charlie Weasley is the single best Quidditch player at this school. He could play for England!"

"I still reckon Greg Newman is better." Herbert shrugged.

"First of all," Oliver said, in a superior tone, "Newman's a chaser and it is therefore hard to compare the abilities of a seeker against him."

"He's still better." Herbert shrugged.

"Secondly," Olivier continued as though his friend hadn't said anything. "Charlie has an 87% success rate at catching the Snitch, almost a school record! Whereas Newman's only got a 76% scoring success rate and we all know it's much easier to have a higher success rate being a chaser than a seeker because when you're a seeker if you don't catch the snitch one game it can offset your entire average. So on that point we can conclude that Charlie is a better Quidditch player than Newman."

"As I said before, Newman's still better. He flies so smoothly and works so well with the other players."

"Thirdly," Oliver persisted, "Charlie Weasley has been on the team since his second year. Newman only scraped in third year."

"But wouldn't you argue that –" Herbert continued with a bit of a grin on his face.

"FOURTH," Oliver practically shouted, "Charlie Weasley has been captain since his fourth year and has managed to get our team to victory twice out of those three years. Newman only just became captain this year and is doing a very poor job at it if the Ravenclaw practices I've been spying on are anything to go on."

"Well I'd say – wait, you've been spying on Ravenclaw practices? Have you been spying on us too?"

"Fifth," Oliver continued, pretending not to hear Herbert's accusation, "Charlie Weasley holds the record for the quickest the snitch has been caught in Hogwarts history – eight minutes and 53 seconds. If that's not the best Quidditch player in the school then I don't know what is. I could go on – in fact I have a list of 73 reasons that Charlie Weasley is the best Quidditch player in the school – but I think I've made my point."

"You are bordering on psychopathic, mate." Herbert grinned. "It's a good thing you're actually on speaking terms with Weasley or I'm sure he'd have put out a restraining order against you."

"I am not psychopathic!" Oliver protested. "I'm just interested in Charlie Weasley's excellent Quidditch playing that make him the best in the school and _will_ get him on the English team some day."

"I'll admit, Weasley is fantastic and I'd _maybe_ even say I thought he was the best in the school and was saying otherwise just to wind you up." Herbert grinned as Oliver looked appalled. "But there is no way he'll end up playing for England."

"Why wouldn't he? He's good enough."

"He's simply not good enough to play for England. I can see him playing for the Wasps or Tornadoes or some other team but never make it to the national team. Plus, we're not even sure if he wants to play Quidditch for a career." Herbert reasoned.

Oliver snorted. "Come on, everyone who's good enough to play Quidditch for a living wants to play Quidditch for a living."

"You're that sure?" Herbert asked.

"Of course I'm that sure. In fact, five galleons say I'm that sure." Oliver challenged.

"I'll take that bet." Herbert grinned, shaking Oliver's hand.

"Easiest five galleons I ever made." Oliver informed him.

* * *

"**I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."**

* * *

_A little less than a year later_

Herbert Fleet, being the kind, generous, Hufflepuff that he was, did not remind Oliver Wood about the bet. Even though he knew Charlie Weasley had gone off to look after dragons in Romania and was not, in fact, playing Quidditch for England, he didn't feel the need to tell Oliver about it. He knew he'd won and really, wasn't that satisfaction enough?

He didn't know if Oliver knew (but suspected he did) and frankly, didn't mind keeping it that way. He didn't really need the five galleons and to be honest, didn't really want them. He'd just settle for winning against Gryffindor in the match against them later in the year (with Charlie Weasley gone, Hufflepuff actually had a chance at winning).

Herbert was surprised though, when on one blustery evening in late September, Oliver Wood called out to him in the Entrance Hall. They hadn't really spoken all term, apart from a few quick hellos in the corridor. Oliver, as the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, had spent a lot of time working out how he was going to run the team this year and therefore hadn't had much time for his friends.

"Hey, Herbert." Oliver said, clapping his friend on the shoulder as they walked towards the Great Hall together (Herbert's other friends making their way to the Hufflepuff table a little ahead of the Keepers).

"Hello Oliver, how have you been?" Herbert asked.

"Good, good. Stressed, but good." Oliver told him. "Now, the reason I'm here is that I owe you five galleons."

"Don't worry about it." Herbert waved his hand. "I don't really care to be honest."

"No, no." Oliver said. "You won the bet fair and square and now Charlie Weasley's off being an idiot somewhere, wrestling dragons when he could be playing for the greatest Quidditch team in the world!"

"Oliver, the English team are rubbish." Herbert told him.

"They are not!" Oliver defended. "Anyway, the point is, these are yours." And he pulled out five galleons from his pocket and handed them to Herbert.

"Thanks for this." Herbert said, pocketing the gold. "I'll shout you to a Butterbeer next time we're in Hogsmeade to talk over the first match of the season and we'll call it even, eh?"

"Sounds great." Oliver nodded. "Anyway, I have to go. I'm still trying to find a speaker that'll live up to Charlie Weasley's awe-inspiring legacy that would have continued if he'd accepted that contract to play for Kestrels...but I'm not bitter."

"See you later, Oliver." Herbert grinned.

"Bye, Herbert."

* * *

**Author's note: How do I apologise to thee, let me count the ways. **

**So I'm really super sorry that this took so long! It's really ridiculous! However, it is now the holidays (for two weeks and then it's back to school) and I'm actually hoping to get this story finished by my birthday (the 24****th**** of July) because it's been going on for far too long and I've only got 9 chapters after this to write which I know I can write between now and then (I'm usually just too lazy). **

**Anyway, thank you all for your lovely reviews! They really mean a lot to me!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	42. Sirius B and Remus L III

**Less than a week! Dork! Look at you!**

**The idea for this one came from me and my friend arguing over whether it was a good idea for the government to our sell state assets (which it isn't, in case you wanted my opinion on the matter. But they're doing it anyway – bloody New Zealand). Although this situation is a little more serious than state assets (shock horror)!**

**If you need clarification on Sirius's view point I have written over 300 words on it in the Author's note at the end.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, 7th Year_

* * *

"You honestly think giving Aurors the right to kill is a _good_ idea?" Remus Lupin exclaimed loudly over breakfast one morning.

"It's a bloody brilliant idea!" Sirius Black replied through a mouthful of toast.

"Haven't you ever heard of innocent before guilty?" Remus asked incredulously. "By giving Aurors the right to kill, they could very well murder innocent people and use the excuse that they were Death Eaters."

"Oh come off it, Remus. Aurors are hardly going to stroll down Diagon Alley and start offing people at random – they'll only kill in dire situations where it is pretty bleeding obvious the person is a Death Eater. As well as that, Azkaban costs a lot to maintain and I'd rather my taxes go into something a bit better – like getting decent teachers for this place." Sirius argued.

"That's not the point!" Remus retorted. "Some people really are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. What if someone just happened to be caught in the cross-fire and the Aurors just killed them? It wouldn't be fair at all! Much better to take them in to the Ministry and actually determine if they're guilty of something or not."

"We're not living in times where this is possible!" Sirius replied. "We live in a world at war with itself – in both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds – we haven't time to determine if someone is guilty of only killing one person or guilty of torturing hundreds. We need fast, effective action and this is it."

"You're seeing things in a black and white view. The world is a whole area of greys and you can't try fitting a black and white solution to a problem with so many grey areas. It's not going to be fair and it will actually have _fatal_ consequences. Or has that escaped your notice?"

"Of course it hasn't escaped my notice, I'm not blind. I just don't believe the Aurors will kill anyone just for the fucking hell of it."

"Since when have you had faith in our government?" Remus scoffed.

"Since it's the Aurors, headed by Alastor Moody – he's not going to let his team get away with murder."

"Except murder is exactly what they're doing!" Remus exclaimed.

"I hate to break up what is such a riveting argument," James called over the top of his friends' 'debate', "but we've got class in five minutes and I don't really want a detention for being late to _class_ of all things."

Neither Remus nor Sirius looked at each other as they packed their stuff up and followed James and Peter (talking about the latest disappearances in the Wizarding World) out of the Great Hall and up to the Transfiguration class room.

* * *

Of course, the debate didn't end here. Oh no, when people like Remus Lupin and Sirius Black get on a topic like this, neither one is going to back down.

"They've just let someone off on the charges of murder." Remus Lupin said smugly as he threw that morning's 'Daily Prophet' on the library table in front of Sirius a few days later.

"Your point is?" Sirius asked, giving Remus a very exasperated look.

"Well if they'd had it your way, the poor man would've been murdered on the spot, even though he's innocent!" Remus explained.

"Just because he got off, it doesn't mean he's innocent." Sirius scoffed.

"Oh come off it, Sirius! You think the Department of Magical Law Enforcement got it wrong?"

"And you were the one who accused me of having faith in our government!" Sirius exclaimed. "Look, I come from a family of people who got off on pretty serious charges because they were born into the right family and had enough gold. I know better than anyone that just because you got off, it doesn't mean you deserve it. This bloke was a pureblood, I take it?"

"Yes, but so's Peter and hundreds of other people– are you insinuating that the Ministry would let Peter off because he's a pureblood?"

"Probably," Sirius shrugged, "it's about being in the right circles. As far as I'm concerned, 99% of the time the Aurors are the ones getting it right, not the so called Department of Magical Law Enforcement which is about as a corrupt a department as any!"

"You are kidding me, aren't you? Barty Crouch is in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement! I'll admit he's not the type of bloke you'd invite round for tea but there is no way that that man would take bribes from anyone, not even the esteemed Black family!"

"You guys are still arguing about this!" Peter exclaimed as he came back from finding a book in a different part of the library. "What's the point of trying to prove that giving the Aurors the power to kill is a good idea? Actually, I'm pretty sure you can't prove that."

"Can't prove it? Of course you can prove it!" Remus responded. "If the ministry continues on the way they're going, someone is going to end up either killed or wrongly punished for a crime they did not commit. That's proof!"

"You really think that?" Sirius scoffed again. "I can see two flaws in that idea - and that's only two seconds after I've heard it, give me time and I'm sure I can up with more. A) The way the ministry is working is actually helping catch Death Eaters and making them responsible for the fucking horrific things they've done and b) on the extremely miniscule chance the Ministry do screw it up, who the hell is going to know or care?"

"'Extremely minuscule chance the Ministry do screw it up'? I have never heard you utter words more in support for our government."

"And you're not likely to." Sirius conceded. "But mark my words, they're not going to end up punished for something they didn't commit – and if they are, they likely committed something else anyway."

"Your faith in human nature is touching." Remus remarked sarcastically. "Ten galleons?"

"You're on."

"You're both idiots."

* * *

_A few years later_

There are really no words to describe the feelings of an innocent man who is sentenced to Azkaban without a trial. I could try, I really could. But how do you capture the pain, the outrage, the fear of such a person without going through the experience yourself?

I'm sure there was a lot of pain, though. I'm sure there was a hell of a lot of outrage. It goes without saying there was fear.

It was also a tad unfortunate.

Remus Lupin would never know the system he so detested had actually got it wrong. Because he didn't trust their methods but believed in them. Believed his best friend was a murderer and deserved his life long sentence to Azkaban, without a trial. Believed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had got it right and a guilt-free man had not been sent to Azkaban.

The Ministry had headed down a dark road. Lives were saved, maybe. Lives were infinitely worse off.

* * *

**Author's note: I have to tell you, my friend and my argument over state assets never actually got to betting (well it actually hasn't finished, we always bring it up around each other - but she's on holiday so we've put it on hold), nor her sentence in Azkaban (because, let's face it, I'm more of a Lupin than she is and although neither of us are Sirius Blacks, she's definitely the closest). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it because I loved writing it.**

**Clarification on Sirius's view point – because I'm sure I'll get reviews saying that it's 'unlike' Sirius to believe that killing someone is right without knowing 100% they're guilty. I suppose this bet is the closest I've come to a death penalty debate. I'm not going to go into this debate with you, dear readers (because I know people are very passionate about this subject – myself included), but from what I see as similarities between the death penalty and giving Aurors the power to kill: you're dealing with the chance that someone is innocent and whether you'll ever be able to determine someone's guilt. You're also dealing with whether any act can be punishable by death. I'm sure if Remus and Sirius took this debate further (or at least the Sirius and Remus I've written) I'd argue that Remus is very anti-death penalty because from what I've taken from his character in the books, I believe him to believe that there's always a chance for redemption (what with him being a werewolf and all, but also the rest of his character). I don't think Sirius believes this. He's been brought up in a family (whether he agrees with it or not) who (excuse the pun) are very black and white. Until we learn of Regulus after Sirius's death we're never presented with a Black character who wasn't good or evil (Sirius being the most grey – but you can't deny at his core was a good man and in terms of a children's book, that's what we were presented with) and I see Sirius seeing his family as this; Andromeda, Uncle Alphard as the white and everyone else as the black (again, excuse the pun). Growing up in this environment I believe that Sirius would have seen criminals as such – black and white. In Sirius's book, if you'd done the crime you deserved whatever you got (i.e. death if you'd murdered someone). This is the justification I can give with Sirius backing Crouch's decision to give Aurors the power to kill. It was very long and basically me rambling and if you want to take this up with me, feel free! I love debating so any opportunity to practice is a good one (even if I don't think the view points of Harry Potter characters will come up in my next debate)!**

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews and support!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	43. N Tonks & Kingsley S, Remus L & Sirius B

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

* * *

Neither Tonks nor Kingsley really knew when it started. Surely it was one Order of the Phoenix meeting, or maybe even an Auror session. It was just one of those things they both noticed and subconsciously kept track of. To tell the truth, it helped keep them sane. Hours of long meetings, with nothing much else to pass the time; Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks started counting how many times esteemed ex-Auror Alastor Moody said 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' Now it wasn't excessive, I would not like to give you the false assumption that Moody says the sentence every second sentence. He doesn't. But at least once a meeting and more often twice, he just can't help himself.

So that's where it started; Moody and his habit of screaming 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' at the top of his lungs. It developed to become a much more interesting game for the pair. How many times would Snape take unnecessary pauses to glare at everyone? How many times would Sirius roll his eyes at Snape? The number was almost always the same. It moved on from this, to how many times would Remus and Sirius communicate without using words and how many times Mrs Weasley fussed over someone. Order of the Phoenix meetings were a lot more interesting when Kingsley and Tonks were looking out for these sorts of things. It added a spice to their otherwise boring lives.

Of course, it did get a bit troublesome in some meetings when everything they were counting happened at once (like Hestia running her fingers through her hair at the same time as Bill ogling Fleur at the same time as Dumbledore stroking his beard). But these two were Aurors, they could handle it.

"So how many times do you reckon Molly will glare at Dung in this meeting?" Tonks muttered to Kingsley as they took their usual seats in the middle of the table (prime spot for people watching).

"It's got to be at least eight." Kingsley said after a moment of consideration, looking from Mundungus to Mrs Weasley and back again.

"Eight? Are you barmy? He hasn't done anything remotely criminal lately – that we know of at least, this is Dung. Plus, this meeting is only an hour, not long enough for eight glares. It'll be less than that." Tonks replied.

"Definitely more than eight. She still hasn't forgiven him for the thing in the upstairs bedroom last week. Plus, he's looking more shifty than usual tonight." Kingsley told her.

"If you're that confident, you care to make a wager on it?" Tonks smirked.

"Not a big one?" Kingsley asked her.

"I was thinking a couple of sickles." Tonks reassured him.

"Well you're on then."

They shook hands.

* * *

Kingsley won by a large margin. Mrs Weasley glared at Mundungus not eight, but ten times in their 60 minute meeting. Tonks couldn't believe her bad luck! But then Remus smiled at her so maybe her luck was restored to a balance. Even so, she was determined to win her next bet with Kingsley.

"Three sickles Dedalus gets so excited he falls off his chair?" Tonks muttered to Kingsley as she slid into her spot next to him in the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Done."

They didn't have to wait long. It was only ten minutes into that evening's meeting that Dedalus got so excited about stopping Voldemort in his latest attempt at getting the prophecy that he toppled over and found himself flat on the grubby kitchen floor.

* * *

Kingsley and Tonks continued their little game for weeks. It was harmless fun, they thought, and because bets were so small and regular, both participants' pockets remained relatively full (Kingsley's a bit more so than Tonks's). Their only problem was that people were starting to notice.

* * *

_Remus Lupin and Sirius Black (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

* * *

Now both Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were observant people and they didn't fail to notice the amount of time Kingsley and Tonks spent whispering to each other during Auror meetings. It was hard not to. In fact, both wondered why no one else seemed to notice it. They thought Molly must have, what with Fred and George as her children. But alas, it seemed that these two were the only ones who did (neither would admit it might have had something to do with the fact they were only two unemployed lot of the Order and therefore had a lot of spare time to contemplate such things).

"What'd you think Tonks and Kingsley are up to?" Sirius whispered to Remus during one of Snape's speeches, a few weeks after Tonks and Kingsley made the first bet.

"All the whispering?" Remus clarified. Sirius nodded. "I'm not sure. It can't be anything good – Tonks looks like she has to stop herself from giggling half the time."

"It's got something to do with these meetings." Sirius told him. "They're never like this in other situations."

"What could it be then? It can't be information about the Order because that's never funny." Remus pondered.

The two continued to wonder about what Tonks and Kingsley were doing, their eyes flicking between the pair, Snape delivering his speech and each other at regular intervals.

* * *

"Remus and Sirius are looking at us funny."

"You think they're on to us?"

* * *

The meeting was a long, boring one and so the two Marauders spent a lot more time than they probably should have trying to work out what Tonks and Kingsley were up to. It wasn't until Sirius saw a flash of silver that he worked it out.

"They're _betting_." Sirius hissed at Remus the second he saw a couple of sickles change hands.

"That makes sense!" Remus responded quietly. "What do you think they're betting on?"

"It's got to be how many dramatic pauses Snape takes in his speech." Sirius told his friend, eyes flicking from Tonks and Kingsley to Snape, back to Tonks and Kingsley and finally Remus again.

* * *

"They'll never guess what we're actually up to."

"Five sickles say they will."

* * *

"It's more likely how many times Minerva purses her lips at Fleur flipping her hair unnecessarily." Remus replied.

"That's hard to count – since the numbers so large. It's Snape."

"Fleur."

"Five sickles?"

"It's a bet."

* * *

"You're on!"

* * *

It was an hour later that the meeting had finished and the number of occupants in 12 Grimmauld Place's kitchen had diminished to five: Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt. The latter four were patiently (or not so patiently in the case of Tonks) for Mrs Weasley to go upstairs to bed so they could confront each other about their bets and find out which two people would be walking away with five sickles each.

After a cup of tea and a discussion about how they were going to get around Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters that had taken up a hobby of walking past a certain Ministry corridor, Mrs Weasley bid the other four goodnight and made her way up to bed.

"So what were you two betting on?" Sirius asked Tonks and Kingsley the minute Mrs Weasley had left the room.

"I told you they'd work it out." Kingsley smirked at Tonks, holding his hand out. Sirius and Remus watched in amusement as Tonks grudgingly took out five silver coins from her pocket and handed them to her fellow Auror.

"But what were you betting on?" Sirius asked again.

"Why do you want to know?" Tonks replied.

"Because he wants to get five sickles off me." Remus answered for Sirius.

"And I will." Sirius assured him. "It was about the number of 'dramatic' pauses Snape takes it in his speeches, wasn't it?"

"It was clearly about the number of times Minerva purses her lips at Fleur's unnecessary hair flipping." Remus argued.

Tonks and Kingsley both grinned.

"It was both." Tonks admitted.

* * *

**Author's note: Still less than two weeks – I'm not doing so badly at this updating malarkey. Probably won't have this finished by my birthday though (24****th**** July) which is a shame. New hopefully finish-by date is the end of August because I have a week of holidays after my school practice exams. **

**Thanks for your lovely reviews!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	44. Ron and Charlie W

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Ron and Charlie Weasley _

"I'm telling you Charlie, this year is the Cannons' year." Ron told his second eldest brother as they sat in Charlie's favourite bar, near where he worked in Romania.

Ron had gone over to see his brother because Charlie hadn't made it home since he left after the end of the war. At this time Ron was still helping George get the shop back to its old self. He didn't have a lot of free time but seeing as Ginny was off at Quidditch training, George was actually running the shop, Bill was back in Egypt training new curse breakers, and Percy was working day and night helping Kingsley with the Ministry, it had fallen to Ron to make the trek to Romania to make sure Charlie was doing alright (mostly to stop Mrs Weasley's worrying).

Now, one might think that when Ron was overseas to see his brother they might talk about new and interesting things; the dragons, Romania itself, their family. However being Ron and Charlie, not Charlie and Bill or Charlie and Percy, meant that the topic had fallen to Quidditch. It was always Quidditch with these two.

"It's never the Cannons' year." Charlie corrected him. "Never, Ron. I don't care if the chance of them winning a match is 1/36. Just because this is their 36th match and they've lost the last 35, it doesn't mean that they're going to win the next one. That's not how probabilities work."

"You want to think you can think it but it's simply not true. The Cannons are going to win their next match. They're against the Appleby Arrows and they're awful."

"The Cannons haven't won a game all season, Ron. They're not going to magically start now." Charlie reminded him. "The Arrows aren't awful – they're certainly better than the Cannons."

"They are not better than the Cannons!" Ron defended.

"The statistics show –" Charlie started to explain.

"Statistically the Cannons may be the lowest ranking team," Ron cut him off, "but if you look at the players when they actually play, the Cannons have a much better team."

"That's bull and you know it." Charlie said, taking a swig of drink from his bottle.

"A night's worth of drinks says I'm right." Ron told him.

"You're that confident in your rubbish team?" Charlie snorted.

"Of course I am." Ron said.

"Then it's a bet."

* * *

_Saturday afternoon_

It was four o'clock in the afternoon and Charlie Weasley and his brother Ron were sitting in Charlie's living room listening to the wireless. Both clutching a drink in their hands, their eyes and ears were trained on the small radio set between them.

"_The Arrows Chaser Harvey has the Quaffle. He's zooming up the pitch, passing one Cannon, two, passing a third. Easily dodging a poorly aimed bludger –"_

"Still feeling confident about this bet?" Charlie smirked at his little brother. "The Cannons are down 160 to 10. Even if they catch the snitch it'll be a draw, and Harvey's about to score anyway."

"It's not over yet." Ron reminded him. "They'll come back, there's still plenty of time left in the game."

"_Wait, it seems as though Arrows seeker Penelope Jones has caught sight of the snitch!"_

"Or not." Charlie chuckled.

"Shut up! It's a crucial point in the match." Ron snapped, leaning closer to the wireless as though it would help the Cannons win.

"_Cannons Seeker Galvin Gudgeon doesn't seem to realise what's going on. Jones getting closer to the snitch. Other Cannons players distracted by the snitch, Harvey gets the goal for the Arrows."_

"Gudgeon's pathetic." Charlie sighed, taking a sip of his drink.

"Shhhh!" Ron hissed, getting closer still to the radio.

"_Seems as though Gudgeon has finally clocked on to what's happening. He's flying over to meet Jones. He's not going to make it. Jones is barely a metre from it. Arm has been extended. It's a matter of centimetres. Gudgeon still half way across the pitch. Looks like Cannons don't a shot – yes, they don't. Jones has got it! The game is over. There goes the whistle. The snitch adds 150 points to the score board and the final score of the match is 310 – 10 to the Appleby Arrows. It really was a shocking performance by the Cannons but a good match from the Arrows."_

Ron quickly turned the wireless off, looking extremely put out.

"You ready to go out and get pissed?" Charlie grinned, clapping his brother on the back. "You're paying after all."

* * *

**Author's note: Again, I'm so sorry for being completely absent from fanfiction in the past few months. I'll try and rectify it but I wouldn't count on many updates between now and the end of November (in November I have my last high school exams ever so it's really important that I study).**

**Thanks for being so patient with me (for those who are reading A Little Bit Weasley as well, I'm even more sorry as that hasn't been updated since May. I will be updating though, it definitely hasn't been abandoned). **

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews! I'm just about to reply to most of the ones from last chapter now - I'm so sorry that it takes me so long to reply to those too!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo **


	45. Parvati P and Lavender B

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, 4th Year_

* * *

The thing with the friendship between Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter is that it was so co-dependent that it was only a question of _who_ would end up together rather than _if_ a pair would end up together.

Once it was established that both Ron and Harry appeared to be straight, it was only a matter of who would end up with _Hermione._

Many people over the years argued over who it would be; the classic 'Ron or Harry' debate that was especially popular with the giggling, gossiping, gaggle of Hogwarts girls. To be fair, they weren't the only ones. Friend or foe, classmate or Quidditch rival, it was safe to say that a fair number of people had hedged their bets on either Weasley or Potter - much too many than would be normally appropriate if these two wizards and one witch were anyone other than precisely who they were.

The most well-informed of these were the most 'correct' in their reasoning. However, as it almost is with these sorts of things, it was the ill-informed that were the most interesting.

Case in point: Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown.

Now although these two girls had known Harry, Ron and Hermione for almost four years, they didn't know nearly enough about them to accurately weigh up the likelihood of whether Ron or Harry would end up with Hermione. However, they did know enough for it not to be a mindless bet. They also had a perchance for gossip and so heard things other didn't; whether what they heard was true or not meant nothing in terms of making the bet more interesting.

"I am telling you, there is no way that Hermione Granger would ever fall for someone as simple minded as Ron Weasley." Lavender said as she and Parvati lay on her bed in their dormitory, flicking through the newest issue of _Witch Weekly_ together.

"You're being unfair. Ron's funny and he loosens Hermione up. Remember when they weren't friends? She was even more uptight than she is now!" Parvati countered.

"That was when she became friends with Ron _and_ Harry." Lavender explained. "If it were just Ron I might believe you but come on, Ron and Hermione? They'd never work! Ron would drive her crazy being so immature and Hermione would drive him crazy by being so superior and clever."

"Oh but that's what she likes about him." Parvati replied. "She likes that he drives her crazy – she's weird like that."

"Don't be ridiculous - who would like someone that drove them crazy? That's mental."

"Hermione would." Parvati shrugged simply.

"I still think she's much more likely to end up with Harry." Lavender said. "Everyone loves a hero and Hermione's bound to – look at all the books she's read, she's bound to idolise some hero."

"Well I suppose we can't deny Harry's a hero." They erupted into giggles. "I still think it'll be Ron." Parvati added. "They're the bickering best friends that get together in the end."

"No, Hermione's Harry's best friend that he's always relied on and never realised how amazing she is until it's almost too late." Lavender replied.

"Think what you will – my bet is that Hermione ends up with Ron."

"Well mine's that she ends up with Harry. Oh I do hope we're invited to the wedding. I bet it'll be amazing."

They erupted into giggles once more.

* * *

_After the war_

They didn't get invited to the wedding. Parvati had been far closer with Harry than she ever had been with Ron or Hermione, and there was no way either Hermione or Ron would invite Lavender to their wedding.

They did hear about it though, in great detail – Seamus told them everything over a few drinks in the Leaky Cauldron.

The two women had never really stopped talking about the likelihood of Hermione ending up with Harry or Ron (Lavender getting increasingly stubborn each day as she continued to back Harry - she was a Gryffindor after all, and very human and never backtracked on an argument). So when the time came, Parvati couldn't help but grin at her best friend and say the classic "I told you so."

* * *

**Author's note: Yup, I'm an awful updater. No surprises there. Am hoping to get this finished by the end of the year though – exams finish next week and then I'm on holiday until mid-February.**

**I realise they didn't actually bet any money but it seemed really unnatural to try and put it in. But a bet's still a bet. **

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews and support.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	46. Teddy L and Greg P

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Teddy Lupin and Greg Peterson (pre-epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)_

* * *

"So when are you and Vic telling her family you're dating?" Greg asked Teddy as he sat down in the living room of the flat the two friends shared.

"If I was having it my way," Teddy replied, leaving the kitchen and plopping down on the couch beside Greg, "never."

"But you don't get to have it your way, do you?" Greg grinned as he took a sip of his drink.

"Of course not." Teddy agreed. "But I don't think Vic is quite ready to tell everyone yet, so I reckon I've got a week at least."

"Isn't she going back to Hogwarts in a few weeks?" Greg raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, she is."

"Then won't you two tell Bill and the rest before she goes?"

"I'm trying to postpone the inevitable, but you're probably right. Bill's a pretty relaxed bloke but he's pretty protective when it comes to Vic." Teddy replied. "So are the rest of the males in her family actually." He added worriedly.

"At least Harry'll be on your side, won't he?"

"I bloody well hope so – if he wants my help scaring away Lily's future boyfriends then he will."

"Don't think he'll need your help, mate. He's Harry Potter, pretty sure he can scare Lily's future boyfriends away by himself. Plus, she's only what, nine? I doubt he's worrying about that now." Greg reasoned.

"You don't have to remind me of that! You're my best mate; you're supposed to be telling me that it'll be fine and no one will find out before we tell them and when we do tell them, it'll all go smoothly." Teddy explained. "Merlin, you're a rubbish mate."

"Well, I'm sure everything will go smoothly when you do tell everyone, but you're dreaming if you think no one will find out before you two are 'ready' or whatever."

"How could they?" Teddy scoffed.

Greg laughed. "Easily. The Weasleys are the nosiest family in the wizarding world, everyone knows that!"

"There is no way anyone will find out. I'd put ten galleons on it."

"You underestimate her family and overestimate your subtlety. You're on."

"Seriously? We're betting on this?"

"You started it; I'm just agreeing and taking your money."

* * *

_The next day_

It appeared that Greg was right on this occasion (although Teddy will deny him being right in any other circumstance). The Weasleys were infamous for being nosy, and Teddy and Victoire knew next to nothing about subtlety.

They were walking down Diagon Alley holding hands. It was three weeks before term started. Diagon Alley was full of people who could see them. So much for keeping their relationship a secret until they were ready to tell Victoire's family! Teddy and Victoire, of course, thought that no one would notice their hands while everyone was going about their own business.

How very wrong they were.

Molly Weasley – Percy and Audrey's daughter, not Arthur's wife – was sitting in one of the cafés on the Alley reading a book on Wand Lore while taking breaks to sip orange juice from the tall glass on the table in front of her. She had just finished reading page 245 and looked up to push the glasses further up her nose when she spotted her eldest cousin hand-in-hand with Teddy Remus Lupin.

She wasn't surprised, really. Teddy had been pinning after Victoire for what felt like years and suddenly he'd seemed rather happy. Too happy. She supposed this explained it.

Molly took another sip of her drink as Victoire and Teddy walked past and then went back to her book; it was much more interesting than who was dating her cousin.

* * *

_The day after that_

A romantic walk along the beach a mere five minute walk from where George and Angelina Weasley lived was not Teddy and Victoire's most subtle move. Especially when said walk was at 6pm, precisely when Angelina got home from work and went straight out for her daily jog along said beach.

The pair was oblivious to everyone around them as they made their way along the sand. It just so happened that the stopped less than one hundred metres from Angelina, and Teddy leaned down to kiss Victoire.

Angelina saw, of course she did. She didn't say anything though (well she did tell George later that night), just jogged past and grinned to herself. Her husband's family really were the most obvious people she had ever met.

* * *

_And the day after that one_

Teddy should have known not to mix up his stories when talking to Harry and Ginny.

He'd popped round to their house that afternoon to talk to Ginny about looking after Lily for a few afternoons in September while both Harry and Ginny worked. While there, Ginny asked if he wanted to stay for dinner. Teddy, foolish Teddy, politely declined, and said he was taking someone out for dinner.

This didn't seem so idiotic at first, but just as he was leaving, Harry came in the front door.

"Where are you off to, Ted?"

"Just off to see Victoire."

Married couples talk. Harry and Ginny worked it out within seconds.

* * *

In fact, by the time Victoire and Teddy told Bill and Fleur that they were dating (August 30th at 6:37pm) no less than six relatives had caught Teddy and Victoire together and four more had heard about it from those six.

By the time James caught Teddy kissing Victoire on the Hogwarts Express on September 1st it was only the children younger than 14 that didn't know the two were dating.

Needless to say, Teddy owed Greg some money.

* * *

_September 1__st_

"You were right." Teddy called as he entered the flat that evening.

"I'm always right." Greg replied, coming out of the kitchen, two bottles of beer already in hand. "But what about this time?"

"The Weasleys finding out about me and Vic before we told Bill and Fleur." Teddy said, accepting the beer with a nod of thanks.

"Of course." Greg grinned. "Who found out?"

"According to Harry, at least him and Ginny, Angelina, George, Louis and Hermione but he suspects there was probably more."

"I knew it!" Greg laughed. "You two are ridiculously unsubtle."

"But we tried really hard!"

"Clearly not. I'll take those ten galleons thanks."

"Alright, here you go."

"Cheers, mate!"

* * *

**Author's note: I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last update. It feels like a lot less time (although a lot shorter between updates than it usually is – so that's a win). Holidays must be getting to me. However, it is the holidays and I will have this finished by the time I start university in February. Hopefully by the end of the year. It's looking up.**

**Thanks for all your reviews and support!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	47. Remus L, Sirius B, Fred and George W II

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Fred and George Weasley (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)_

* * *

"Mates, we were the _Marauders_, do you really think you can outsmart us?"

"Marauders you may be, dear Sirius, but it has been almost two decades since you were at school."

"Old age has damaged your senses."

"Not made us wiser?"

"Of course not, Remus...are we allowed to call you Remus?"

"I'd say so; I haven't taught you for over a year."

"Well then, Remus my dear friend, George and I have come to the conclusion that age is a damaging thing and therefore you cannot live up to the next generation of law breakers in your elderly state."

"Next generation of law breakers?" Sirius let out a bark like laugh. "I'm a law breaker right now, which is more than I can say for the two of you."

"Psssh!" George waved his hand airily. "You're innocent, so don't pull the 'law breaker right now' crap on us. Sirius, we're smarter than that."

"You're that sure?" Lupin smirked.

"Of course we're sure." Fred said. "You taught us for a year, Remus, you should know that."

"And yet I seem to have no recollection of it..."

"All we're trying to say is," said George, "there is absolutely no way that the Marauders in their current state could ever live up to the glory and honour –"

" – the beauty and well-executed pranks – "Fred interrupted.

" – of the Weasley twins." George finished.

"We're simply too good." Fred shrugged. "Sorry, men."

"No need to apologise." Sirius said. "You've just to _prove_ you're better at pranks than we are."

"Prove it?" Fred raised an eyebrow. "Not a problem. Ten galleons are on us."

"Then let the competition begin." Lupin stated simply.

Hands were shaken. The game was on.

* * *

The occupants of Number 12 Grimmauld Place were not pleased with the current state of affairs.

After Ron exited the bathroom one morning, soaking wet and bright pink, no one could open a door without flinching. The Weasley vs. Marauders prank war had well and truly begun.

They hadn't come to an agreement about how each group was going to prove they were the 'best' at pranks but it didn't really matter. For one week in July, 12 Grimmauld Place was a war zone.

The adults – well, the sensible ones – let it slide for the most part. To be truthful, they were glad to see Sirius and Remus actually smiling and enthusiastic about something (it was no secret that the pair had had a rough decade and a half, if one was putting it lightly). The twins were the twins and there was nothing they could do to stop them.

So it continued for seven days and seven nights. Kingsley woke up screaming after finding frogs in his bed (um, 'borrowed' from Mundungus, of course), Tonks managed to fall into a potion which made her skin glow in the dark, Hermione found her books had been replaced with copies of Witch Weekly, and 'his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad' was played throughout the house at loud volumes, much to Ginny's embarrassment.

Ron, it seemed, had pulled the short straw and managed to find himself the target of most of the pranks. For the twins, he was their younger brother, not explanation needed. For Sirius and Remus, there were just too many characteristics that reminded them of James and some other people they had pulled pranks on back in the day.

Both sides attempted to play pranks on each other, but they never got the results they were after.

There were a total of 37 pranks played on the unwilling participants of this war. However it all ended at 8:03pm on the Sunday, a full week after the pranks had begun.

Fred swears the canary cream was meant for his Dad, not his Mum, but that wasn't how it played out. After losing her feathers and returning to her usual form, Mrs Weasley was not happy.

"THAT IS IT! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR PRANKS! I AM CALLING AN END TO THIS PRANK WAR. FRED AND GEORGE, YOU ARE OF AGE NOW AND YOU HAVE TO START ACTING RESPONSIBLY. SIRIUS AND REMUS, YOU NEED TO STOP ENCOURAGING THEM! THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON LONG ENOUGH. IT IS OFFICIALLY A TIE! IT'S THE END OF WHATEVER COMPETITION YOU HAD IN MIND. IT'S OVER! ONE MORE PRANK AND THERE WILL BE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES, ESPECIALLY FOR YOU, FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!"

The four prankers slowly sunk down in their seats and never questioned the validity of Mrs Weasley's verdict.

* * *

**Author's note: Another short one, I'm afraid. Mostly because I cannot write pranks to save my life (as you will no doubt have noticed in this chapter). I hope you enjoyed it though! Only three more to go.**

**Thanks for all your reviews and support. **

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	48. Fred, George and Ginny W II

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Bolded text taken directly out of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. **

* * *

_Fred, George and Ginny Weasley, 7th/4th Year_

* * *

"And where do you think you're going, oh sister of ours?" Fred Weasley called out to his little sister who was making her way down the corridor towards him and his twin George, broomstick in hand.

"Is anything I do any of your business?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrow, stopping at the same time as her brothers as they came face to face.

"It is if you're about to leave the castle after dinner in these dark times, holding a broomstick. You can't escape Umbridge by flying out of the grounds, you know." George told her.

"Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Ginny scoffed. "I'm going to Quidditch trials." And with that, tried to get around the twins and go on her merry way.

"Hold it, hold it," Fred said, catching Ginny by the wrist and making her face them again. "Since when have you been good at Quidditch?"

"Oh I'm just relying on natural talent." Ginny deadpanned. "Never been on a broomstick in my life."

Of course, the twins didn't believe her; they'd been lying and omitting the truth for as long as either could remember. However, they still couldn't quite understand where Ginny had got the idea that she was good enough for the Gryffindor team. They were quite sure, if she practiced, she'd be a very able Quidditch player indeed (she had the characteristics for it and she was a Weasley, after all), but she wouldn't have had any practice. They'd always left her out of their Quidditch matches as kids and even as teens. Just because she had the _potential_ to be a good Quidditch player, didn't mean she was one.

"You're banking on making the team?" George asked, his eyebrow raised.

"That's the plan." Ginny nodded. "Have you seen the idiots that are trying out?"

"Try not to." Fred grimaced.

"It's painful." George added.

"Exactly." Ginny said. "They're all awful and I'm decent. I'll make the team no problem."

"I'm sorry, Ginny, but I just don't see that happening. They're not all completely rubbish." Fred said.

"We like to think they're not, at least." George muttered.

"Fine then, if you don't think I'll be a good Quidditch player, I'll just go." Ginny said, continuing her journey to the Quidditch pitch.

"Don't be like that Ginny." George said as he and Fred caught up with her.

"We think you'll be an excellent Quidditch player, just not practiced enough to make the team." Fred explained.

"You two got on the team, didn't you? Can't be that hard."

"You wound us, little sister." Fred said dramatically.

"We were bloody good, thank you very much." George said.

"And so am I." Ginny shrugged. "I'd bet you two idiots twenty galleons that I'll make the team."

"Do you even have twenty galleons to give us?" George asked sceptically.

"Won't need them, I'm not going to lose the bet." Ginny smirked. She stopped walking and turned around to face her brothers. "Do we have a deal?"

Fred and George looked at each other.

"Okay then," Fred agreed, "twenty galleons it is."

Ginny shook hands with each of the twins and just like that, the bet was made.

* * *

**Harry was saved the necessity of asking what Nargles were by the arrival of Angelina, Katie and Alicia. All three of them were breathless and looked very cold.**

"**Well," said Angelina dully, pulling off her cloak and throwing it into a corner, "we've finally replaced you."**

"**Replaced me?" said Harry blankly.**

"**You and Fred and George," she said impatiently. "We've got another Seeker!"**

"**Who?" said Harry quickly.**

"**Ginny Weasley," said Katie.**

**Harry gaped at her.**

"**Yeah, I know," said Angelina, pulling out her wand and flexing her arm, "but she's pretty good, actually. Nothing on you, of course," she said, throwing him a very dirty look, "but as we can't have you…"**

* * *

_That night, after the last DA meeting of the year_

Ginny hadn't seen her twin brothers before the DA meeting as she went straight there after Quidditch trials had ended. During the meeting itself everyone was too busy to talk and as Fred and George were always partnered with each other, she couldn't talk to them that way.

After the meeting however, Ginny was free to gloat to her heart's content.

She exited the Room of Requirement as normal and knew she'd catch up with her brothers in the Gryffindor Common Room; much easier to get the money out of them there, with witnesses, than try to do it in the seventh floor corridor.

However, she was spared the trouble of finding the twins when they found her about half way down said corridor. Fred and George started walking on either side of her, and each swung an arm around her shoulders.

"Dearest sister of ours," Fred began. "George and I would like to offer our most sincere congratulations on making the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"Although we have no idea where you pulled that talent from, we cannot help but be impressed." George elaborated.

"Therefore, we must, with no regret, give you the twenty galleons as promised." Fred said as George reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sack of coins.

"Here you are." George said, putting the coins into her hand. "You deserve them."

"Thanks." Ginny replied, grinning. "I thought I'd have to seek you guys out before you coughed up."

"But we always honour our bets!" George said.

"No you don't." Ginny laughed. "You tried to get out of the one we made about Percy and what's-her-face a few years ago."

"Yeah but we don't mind giving you twenty galleons as much as we minded de-gnoming the garden." Fred admitted.

"In any case, Ginny, we're really honestly proud of you." George said. With that, the two twins picked up their pace and managed to make it into the Gryffindor Common Room before Ginny really had the chance to reply.

She didn't know what she'd have said, but she knew she was really kind of chuffed that her brothers were proud of her (they didn't say it often). Plus, she now had twenty more galleons than before _and_ was on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Today had been a good day for Ginny Weasley.

* * *

**Author's note: Only two chapters to go! I'm thinking of a Marauders chapter for the next one, seeing as I haven't done one in a while. Plus, the last one is going to be between Harry, Ron and Hermione so if I don't do the Marauders next then they'll never be here again. Anyway, here was the last Fred and George chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Thanks once again to all of you for your continued support.**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	49. James P, Sirius B, Remus L & Peter P III

**Happy New Year!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, 3__rd__ Year_

* * *

"Remus, I need to stress the importance of this moment to you. You must understand the power that you wield. We cannot lose tonight, it simply cannot happen. You alone have the power to change everything; you can save us from our doom. It is you, and only you, that can protect us from failure."

* * *

_Approximately 20 minutes earlier_

"I'm bored. Hogwarts is no fun at Christmas."

"You mean Hogwarts is no fun when there are significantly less people to terrorise. Let's not pretend your statement is anything less than malicious, Sirius Black." Remus responded calmly as he turned the page of the novel he was reading.

It was Christmas Eve and there were approximately 70 students that were staying at Hogwarts. That there were hardly any students in the castle meant the satisfaction of pulling pranks on them was significantly smaller than would otherwise be the case. Because of this, the Marauders had yet to pull a prank over the Christmas period and resorted to mainly sneaking down to the kitchens and eating to their hearts' content. Although that was enjoyable, it did get quite dull after a few days. Hence, Sirius Black being bored.

"Fine, I'm a horrible person." Sirius replied. "But admitting that doesn't cure my boredom."

"I know what'll cure your boredom, mate." James said, as he looked away from his knight being beaten up by one of Peter's bishops. "A snowball fight."

"Yes!" Sirius grinned wickedly. "We haven't had one since last year. That's a bloody fantastic idea. I say we should go right this second."

"Can't it wait five minutes?" Peter asked. "I'm about to beat James, _again_."

"It'll take you more than." James scoffed.

Four minutes and 28 seconds later the game was over.

"You coming, Remus?" James asked as he, Sirius and Peter all got up from their seats.

"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world." Despite the second part of the sentence being sarcastic, Remus did get up from his seat and made his way to the dormitory with the others to put on warmer clothing, so James took it as genuine agreement.

"Well as your aim is completely rubbish, I wouldn't be surprised if you said no." Sirius said.

"Hey! My aim is not rubbish!"

"It's absolute bollocks." Peter told him apologetically.

"Well yours is rubbish too." Remus said.

"Better than yours." Peter snorted.

"Nah, I reckon Remus's is better." James said.

"No way, Peter's is miles better." Sirius argued.

"Oh please, if we're talking about snowballs here, I'd definitely hit a target more than Peter." Remus said.

"I'm not rubbish and I know how to duck. I'll definitely get more hits than you." Peter said.

"There's only one way to settle this, gents." James grinned. "We're going to have to make this snowball fight a contest."

"And are we betting on this contest, perchance?" Sirius also grinned.

"Of course. Everyone chuck 3 galleons in." James said. "And the winners get 10 free shots at throwing snowballs at the losers."

"It's a bet." Sirius said. Remus and Peter nodded in agreement.

* * *

_Back to James telling Remus what to do_

"James, I understand. I want to win this as much as you do." Remus assured his friend. "We're going to be fine. Let's be honest, Peter's aim is atrocious."

Just as James clapped a hand on Remus's shoulder in encouragement, Remus felt a snowball hit the back of his head.

"Ow!" He yelped, rubbing the back of his head to get the snow off it.

"POINT ONE TO PETER!" Sirius shouted gleefully.

"We haven't started yet!" James yelled back.

"Who says?!" Peter called, laughing.

"We did." Remus snapped.

It didn't take long for verbal fighting to disintegrate into a fully blown snowball war. It took two hours before Remus and James called a ceasefire – they hadn't really stopped long enough at the beginning of the fight to properly establish the bet and work out how the winning party was going to be chosen. It took until they were all shaking from the cold for Remus and James to do the sensible thing and bring the fight to an end. Luckily for the four Marauders, it had become obvious after this time that more of Peter's snowballs had found their mark than Remus's. Not by a landslide, but enough that Remus and James weren't going to protest it (well, much - James did spend a lot of time debating it over dinner that evening).

Sirius and Peter celebrated by chanting "WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN!" at progressively louder volumes. Remus and James walked until they were standing exactly 20 feet from Peter and Sirius, so as to become snowball targets for their friends.

"I can't believe you did this to me, Remus." James muttered to his friend as Peter and Sirius continued to whoop in pleasure.

"I'm sorry James, I really am." Remus said, although he seemed a little bit fed up.

"After backing you up and being on your team, I really expected more from you. I mean, I lay down my life for you, Remus, and this is how you repay me! I'm wounded, positively wounded. I thought we were friends, closer that that - I thought we were brothers! After everything we've been through together, I just don't see how you – "

"James, shut up, it was three galleons and a few snowballs to the face. I didn't kill your mother or steal your broomstick."

"You might as well have." James grumbled as Sirius's first snowball hit him in the stomach.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry this took longer than expected. I'd hoped to get it finished before Christmas but I ended up being super busy. I have also acquired a new computer and had to transfer my files over to it. The last chapter should be up within the week, I really just want to have this all done and dusted.**

**Thanks again for all your lovely reviews and support! I hope you all enjoyed your last Marauders chapter!**

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


	50. Harry P, Ron W and Hermione G

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, 1st Year_

* * *

It didn't take long for Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to begin reminiscing about their first year at Hogwarts in great deal once they got on board on the train back to London. It had been an eventful year, after all, with dragons and mysteries and an evil professor! Not exactly the year any of them had had planned when they got this very same train on the first of September the year earlier, but an enjoyable – if a rather stressful and scary one – nonetheless. They had found each other, after all, and friends were the best things a person could possibly have in the world.

"It really was an eventful year." Hermione summed up after Ron had finished recounting Harry's first Quidditch game in great detail for around the fourth time that year.

"Much more eventful than I'd thought it would be." Ron said. "Bloody hell it was scary! The trapdoor and the chess and the devil's snare and Quirrell and You-Know-Who! I don't think Mum will be best pleased when she finds out about it."

"I don't think my parents will be either." Hermione agreed. "I probably won't tell them about most of it."

"Hermione Granger, lying to her parents! What has the world come to, Harry?" Ron grinned.

"I don't know Ron, it's surely ending." Harry smiled back. "Hermione would never lie like that."

"Oh shut up!" Hermione said. "I'm perfectly capable of lying, as you very well know."

"Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten about the troll with everything that had happened this year. Forgetting about a troll, how in Merlin's name did that happen?" Ron said.

"As Hermione said, it's been an eventful year. I hope next year isn't as bad." Harry said.

"It can't possibly be." Hermione assured him. "We had You-Know-Who and trolls and dragons – next year can't possibly be that bad."

"I don't know, Hermione. Harry does seem to have rotten luck when it comes to bad stuff happening. Think about it, out of all the people everything could have happened to this year, it was Harry every single time. I think that means we've got a few 'eventful' years ahead of us." Ron said.

"Don't be ridiculous." Hermione scoffed. "It can't possibly get as bad. You-Know-Who won't be able to come back now that the Stone is destroyed which means he can't start everything like he did this year. Almost everything went back to him in the end anyway, didn't it?"

"He'll try and come back another way, Dumbledore said so." Harry said.

"It's bound to be decades, I wouldn't worry." Hermione said, although she didn't seem too sure herself.

"Regardless of whether or not You-Know-Who is involved," Ron said, "next year is going to be just as eventful. And the year after that, and the year after that. You're Harry bloody Potter, mate, it's not going to be easy for you."

"Thanks Ron, that makes me feel loads better."

"Only here to help, mate."

"Well I'd bet either of you that this will be our most eventful year. It can't get worse than this." Hermione said.

"I'll take that bet!" Ron smirked. "There is no way you could possibly win that one. This is probably our tamest year. As we get older, it's only bound to increase in danger. It's the side effect of being friends with Harry Potter."

"What do you think, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno. I'd like to agree with you, Hermione, but with Voldemort still at large, stuff is bound to happen."

"So that's settled. Me and Harry against you, Hermione." Ron said matter-of-factly. "What are we betting?"

"Two galleons?" Harry suggested.

"It's got to be more than that." Hermione said. "Or the stakes aren't high enough, we'll never remember the bet if it's only a couple of galleons."

"Ten galleons then." Harry amended.

"And the loser has to publically admit to a crowd of no less than 10 people that they were wrong." Ron added.

"It's a bet." Hermione said seriously.

The three shook hands.

* * *

_After the Battle of Hogwarts, technically seventh year (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)_

Ron was helping clear up the rubble in the Great Hall about 10 hours after the Battle of Hogwarts and the end of Voldemort's reign. All the able-bodied men and women who had fought in the battle (and many who hadn't) were all helping clean up the castle and getting it back to its former state. All the injured were either at St. Mungo's or being cared for by a group of volunteers and Madam Pomfrey. Hermione was one of the volunteers and Harry was speaking with various important people about various important things. Ron, as already stated, was clearing up rubble.

He was reflecting on how bad this year had been when he remembered something, quite out of the blue. He remembered, back when he was eleven, making a bet with Harry and Hermione about how 'eventful' their years at Hogwarts were going to be and whether or not their first year was going to be their worst. He had to laugh, and he did. Great, loud, almost hysterical laughs from where he was standing in the Great Hall. They really hadn't known the half of it. Even he and Harry who hadn't thought their first year would be the worst hadn't ever imagined it would get this bad. There was no way.

Ron abandoned his work and almost sprinted out of the Great Hall. Luckily, he stopped Harry coming through the Entrance Hall at that exact moment.

"Harry, you've got to come with me." He shouted as he ran towards his friend.

"What? Why? Is something wrong?" Harry asked worriedly, although he still followed Ron up what was left of the marble staircase.

"No, it was just something I remembered." Ron said as he ran.

"What was it?" Harry asked as they raced along the first floor corridor to the Hospital Wing.

"You remember our train ride home after our first year at this nuthouse?" Ron asked as they strode through the Hospital Wing's doors.

"Vaguely, why?" Harry asked.

"There's Hermione!" Ron said, spotting their other friend helping Dean Thomas who was sporting quite a few nasty looking injuries. "Oi! Hermione!"

"What is it?" She asked, turning around to face Ron and Harry, both of whom were red-faced and slightly out of breath.

"I was just thinking about how fucked-up this year was." Ron began. "And then I remembered our train ride back to London after first year. You remember? We were talking about how eventful that year was and you said it couldn't get nearly as bad in any other years."

"I did, I remember saying that." Hermione said, comprehension dawning.

"And then Harry and I said there was no way that was going to be the most dangerous year and –"

"We all made a bet." Harry finished for him.

"I hate to say it, Hermione," Ron grinned - perhaps his first proper grin since before the end of the battle. "But it looks like Harry and I won that bet."

"I suppose you did." Hermione agreed, although she looked like she was caught between being amused and being very put out.

"What did the loser have to do again, Ron?" Harry also smiled.

"I believe it was ten galleons each and then the loser had to admit they were wrong to an audience." Ron smirked.

"You can forget the galleons, Hermione, but I'd really like to see you admit you're wrong." Harry said.

"Fine." Hermione huffed, albeit only half-heartedly.

"You can stand on my bed for extra drama if you want to, Hermione." Dean piped up from his place on the bed next to where they'd been talking. He was grinning as well.

Hermione rolled her eyes but got up on the bed anyway.

"Excuse me, everyone." She called and most of the room turned to look at her. "This is completely ridiculous," she started, "but I lost a bet and one of the conditions of losing was that I had to admit I was wrong in front of an audience. So, this is just to let you know, I was wrong."

A few people didn't really care about what she said, and continued to go about whatever they were doing. All the people who had been at Hogwarts with Hermione, on the other hand, laughed.

"Happy now?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron as she got off Dean's bed.

"Very." Ron assured her.

"It was quite a good bet to make, wasn't it?" Harry grinned.

* * *

**Author's note: And that's it! That's the end of 'Time to Put Your Galleons Where Your Mouth Is!'. I realised while writing this that I had never done a bet with Harry before (probably due to the fact I find him a really hard character to write), so I hope you enjoyed him in this one.**

**It's been two and a half years for me to finish this which is awful because it's not even that brilliant or long. But anyway, if you've got to the end of this then thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I'd like to thank you all again for your reviews and alerts and favourites and just general support. **

**Anyway, I don't really have much else to say except thank you. So thank you. **

**TTFN**

**Dork-with-glasses**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**


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